Today Square Enix shared the videos that were recently premiered at Paris Games Week for Final Fantasy XV. These videos come from the demo that will be included with the release of Final Fantasy Type-0 and you can check them both out below. The first video happens to be a tech demo primarily focused on showing off various aspects of the game while the second video is something that players can expect to experience once the demo is released.
This video shows us a glimpse at the combat as well as how Noctis and his buddies will travel through the world map. Currently Final Fantasy XV is set to be released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One but no set release window has been revealed at this time.
A while back we reported on the existence of a follow up film to last years Dragon Ball movie revival Battle of Gods. Now after many months we finally get some details on this new film as well as a poster and a few other images depicting some new characters. The film has the Japanese title of Dragon Ball Z: Revival of F and will be released just before Golden Week in Japan on Saturday April 18th, 2015. The film will be released nationwide in both 2D and 3D formats. Credit goes to Kanzenshuu for both images used in this article.
First up, Frieza is back! That’s right one of the most recognizable villains of all time is back is back in the spotlight and he brings with him two henchmen named Sorbet (the short one) and Tagoma (the tall one). It is noted in the magazine scan that Tagoma is wearing an all new scouter with dual lenses. These two henchmen are remnants of Frieza’s army and have headed to Earth to use the Dragonballs to revive their long deceased master, it is said they succeed in this mission. It will be interesting to see how Frieza and these new henchmen will be able to compete with the Z warriors, who have long since surpassed the power levels of the famous villain.
In the poster we see both Beerus and Whis will be making a return from the last film which also places this new movie after Battle of Gods in the timeline. Goku is wearing an entirely new outfit, something we haven’t seen in a while and interestingly Krillin has shaved his head again after having hair in the last movie (this may just be an error on the poster just like how Super Saiyan Gohan was present on the Battle of Gods poster instead of being in his “Ultimate Gohan” form). Vegeta is just as prominent on the poster as Goku and Toriyama has in the past alluded to the fact Vegeta might play a more starring role in future films. Perhaps we will see a Super Saiyan God Vegeta in this new movie.
Are you excited to see Frieza back in the primary villain spot? Let us know in the comments below.
Devolver Digital and indie developer Fourattic announced their Kickstarter campaign for the upcoming action adventure game Crossing Souls. The game game stars five children who can now interact with the space between life and death after uncovering an artifact. Each child has unique abilities and weapons that will be used to solve puzzles and defeat enemies in their path.
Fourattic is looking to raise $45,000 USD to complete development. A lion’s share of the money will support development, music, and sound effects. The team hopes to release Crossing Souls for Linux, Mac, and Windows in March 2016. Copies of the game start at $10; check out their project on Kickstarter.
Indie Gala and Capsule Computers released the Every Monday Bundle #34 today. The bundle contains seven indie titles this week, all of them redeemable on Steam.
Blast Em! – A retro styled shoot’em up designed to challenge even the most seasoned shoot’em up veteran.
Dungeons: The Eye of Draconus– A co-op retro brawler inspired by old 90’s arcade games like Battle Toads, Golden Axe, and TMNT Arcade.
Forsaken Uprising– A multiplayer medieval first person survival title that gives players the chance to build epic castles, tend to crops, and battle each other with a variety of medieval weaponry. The game is currently in Early Access.
Murder Miners– The fast paced shooter that rocked Xbox Live’s Indie Game charts is now on Steam. Murder Miners features gameplay inspired by Halo, multiple gameplay modes, and destructible environments.
Pulstar– An arcade shooter mixing simple twin-stick shooter sensibilities and an eye catching package.
Rush for Glory– A tower defense game featuring a 10 scenario long campaign mode, 3 difficulty levels, and over 30 enemy types.
The Egyptian Prophecy: The Fate of Ramses– A point and click adventure starring Maya, a young magician attempting to stop the mysterious accidents at the construction site of an obelisk to the god Amon-Ra.
For the first 24 hours of the sale, all seven games can be purchased for $1.99. Grab your copy at Indie Gala before the price goes up.
Overview Ever since Halo: Combat Evolved was released in 2001, fans of the series have come to expect quality from each and every title and while the series may have had a few small disappointments so far, fans have followed the story of Master Chief and Cortana throughout the years and experienced great titles that delivered on most fronts. So now that Microsoft has not only remastered Halo 2 but released the first four Halo titles in Halo: The Master Chief Collection, does it warrant a purchase?
Story After humanity began to colonize other planets; they encountered a powerful and advanced collection of alien races known as the Covenant. With the Covenant using their superior technology and cursing humanity as an affront to their gods, humans quickly were on the losing side of the war until the SPARTAN project began placing genetically enhanced super soldiers on the front lines and none of these SPARTANs is as skilled as Master Chief.
Throughout the course of the four games included in Halo: The Master Chief Collection players will be able to experience every high point of the series’ multi-title space opera as we follow Master Chief as he battles against the Covenant, uncovers an ancient threat that will destroy everything in its path if it is not stopped, teams up with former enemies, battles against yet another ancient race of beings and more.
It can be said that those who have somehow never managed to explore the world of Halo will find that this package contains everything you will need to experience the best that the story has to offer, which is a lot. As for those who are returning to the series you will be happy to learn that every story mission is unlocked immediately when you start the title, allowing you to jump around as you please, giving the player the option to play all of their favorite moments while skipping some of the lesser sequences.
It really must be said that Halo 2: Anniversary is the real star of this collection as not only does it benefit the most from graphical enhancements and audio improvements that will be discussed later, it also features brand new snippets of storyline found in terminals as well as a number of new cutscenes that drop hints towards Halo 5: Guardians.
Gameplay
One of the best aspects of Halo has always been the way that it has handled its shooting mechanics and the intelligence of the enemy Covenant. Limited to a two weapon at a time system, players control a scientifically enhanced human that your enemies will fearfully and respectively call the Demon as he lays waste to their ranks in a series that remains one of the best designed first person shooters to date.
With your enemies varied to include weak and cowardly Grunts capable of suicide attacks and empowered by their brethren, Jackals that make use of shields formed of energy to protect their fragile frames, Elites capable of dishing out and receiving heavy punishment through the use of their recharging shields, and much more, players will always need to think on their feet to take out the numerous enemies they come across as entire areas will feature mixes of enemy types that fight intelligently and can be quite deadly on higher difficulties, especially with various modifiers on.
Throughout these games players will learn to master the Chief’s core combat mechanics as they make use of his firearms, various grenade types, powerful melee abilities, and skill with the various vehicles of war that humanity and the Covenenant have crafted to kill one another. With such a combination of weapons and tools at the player’s disposal, there are countless ways to tackle any situation no matter how daunting it may appear, and if you feel like it you can even bring an ally with, either online or locally, to help out.
As you progress throughout the four titles you will notice various changes to the way that Master Chief performs as well as the various abilities he is capable of using. In Halo: Anniversary players will need to be concerned about a health bar alongside their rechargeable shield where titles after that drop this function and focus entirely on the shield and regenerating health. He will also gain the ability to dual-wield certain weapons from game to game and once you make the jump to Halo 4 then you will be in for quite a different feel as not only does this title introduce a number of new mechanics to the game such as the ability to sprint, create bubble shields, turn invisible, and more, you will also need to face off against a different and far more challenging opponent than what was experienced in past games.
As I mentioned earlier, players can add various modifiers into every level of Halo: The Master Chief Collection to create a new experience. Since the core gameplay and various stages have remained virtually untouched, which is something of a testament to how great these mechanics really are, players will want to add various modifiers through skulls to really spice things up in the single player.
Now as for the multiplayer aspect of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, things are kind of a mixed bag. I say this because despite the multiplayer always being a key drawing point for the franchise, the competitive online play has been struggling to perform properly since the collection launched. These multiplayer modes, regardless of what title’s multiplayer you want to experience, generally always experience some sort of issue when it comes to trying to find a match. You can easily spend an hour trying to find a match even on suggested playlists only to be placed in a near empty lobby or even booted out of the game entirely.
When you do manage to enter a game of multiplayer, you will find that the experience is just the same that you remember it, featuring various game modes such as standard team deathmatch, infection, oddball, capture the flag, and more, just better looking. Fighting once again on the nostalgic battlefields of Halo 2 is a major treat and now you will also have the option to play all of the other game’s various multiplayer modes as well, though you will need to once again be prepared for the various changes in style and mechanics that the series has went through. This is thanks to the fact that if you manage to secure a solid lobby, players can easily swap between maps from all four Halo games, so one match that took place on Halo 4 can be followed by a fight in Halo 2, meaning players will quickly need to remember various tactics and the changed mechanics between titles such as certain dual-wielding weapons being disabled, lowered weapon ability, using bubble shields or lockdown, and more all depend on what title’s multiplayer you are trying out.
Visuals With the release of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, 343 Industries has brought all four titles up to support 1080p and 60 fps creating a fluid experience for the un-remastered titles, Halo 3 and 4, and making the enhanced Halo Anniversary and stunningly remade Halo 2 Anniversary look even better than fans could imagine. While the other three titles may look similar to how we remember them, Halo 2: Anniversary has been completely built from the ground up in certain areas and you can really tell the difference thanks to the ability to swap between classic and modern graphic styles instantly, even in cutscenes. The cutscenes handled by Blur are more than just stunning; they are everything that gamers should expect a modern gaming console to be able to deliver.
As I mentioned, the ability to swap between graphic styles returns in Halo 2 as well as Halo and while there might have been a small delay previously, the change is now instantaneous, making for a stark comparison to how things used to be over a decade ago in Halo 2 and how lush and detailed everything looks now.
Audio Similar to the way the graphics have been overhauled in Halo 2, the title’s sound effects and dialogue have appeared to be remastered as well. A number of the game’s weaponry has been modified to sound a bit different, though players do not have an option to swap between the old sound effects and the new. As for the actual voice work, the characters sound similar to how one may remember, though the enhanced audio quality really helps make the various cutscenes deliver on presentation.
As for the soundtrack, the Halo series has always supported an amazing orchestral soundtrack and that remains true not only in the other three titles, but also in Halo 2 where every scene featuring a rising orchestral track in the background feels that much more important as you blast your way through enemy forces and try to put a stop to whatever threat is between the Chief and his objective.
Overall Halo: The Master Chief Collection is a massive offering that not only gives players the best that the series has to offer, it also delivers on an unprecedented scale that gamers will find themselves delving into for months to come . With all four campaigns to play through, new hidden extras, a plethora of modifiers, playlists, and maps to experiment and mess with all contained on one disc with an easy to navigate menu, it will take quite some time before someone finds themselves lacking a new mode to try out. Although there are some matchmaking issues present in the title, each title’s multiplayer delivers on a scale that fans have been hoping for and newcomers will love, making Halo: The Master Chief Collection an essential title for anyone who owns an Xbox One.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Telltale Games have been almost as tight lipped about their upcoming Game of Thrones based title than George R.R. Martin has been with the book details but it seems someone was sick of the silence and has leaked 12 new screenshots from the game featuring all the characters we know and love with their TV actors likeness. As you can see from the screenshots the game will feature a very similar graphical style to The Walking Dead series Telltale Games also worked on.
Much like the show, the game will feature five different playable characters and allow you to experience those five different viewpoints. These characters will of the House Forrester, a family that has yet to be introduced on the screen but have been present in the books. They live in the north of Westeros in the Ironrath fortress where they control the Ironwood Forest. As one of the five main characters, playing will get to walk around the environment, interacting with objects and other characters. Conversations will have different branches that they can take, allowing the player to alter the story in future episodes. The game has been placed in the ‘point and click’ genre.
The first episode of this six part series is called Iron from Ice and will be released by the end of the year on many different platforms including iOS, Mac, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. It is likely at least one more series of games may be created in the future. The first season will run concurrently with the series and will fit into the story canon of the television show, taking place from the end of Season 3 until the early events of the Season 5. George R. R. Martin’s personal assistant, Ty Corey Franck, is working with Telltale Games as a “story consultant”, ensuring this new work fits into the Game of Thrones world seamlessly.
While many Assassin’s Creed fans have been thrilled to see the release of Unity, others have been met with disappointment. It’s no secret that Ubisoft has received a decent amount of criticism for how it’s handled the release. Firstly, the list of glitches seems to be endless, independent of which platform you’re using, involving issues to do with gameplay, AI and Crowd behaviour, co-op play, menu usability, HUD and overall stability. Not a great start. To be fair, Ubisoft has already released two patches, with a third on the way, to improve this. They have also promised to keep addressing and fixing these bugs into the future. While it’s great that their trying to mend their mistakes, you do have to wonder why Ubisoft has pushed for a quick release rather than waiting and releasing a non-bug-infested nightmare.
If it hasn’t been bad enough, Ubisoft has received further criticism for not allowing reviewers with early access to the game to publish until 12 hours after the game’s release. Seeing the amount of negative reviews since this “cooling off” period, it’s easy to speculate that Ubisoft anticipated the unfavourable feedback. With midnight launches becoming more popular, it seems manipulative of a company to deliberately delay reviews, allowing for customers to buy uninformed until it is too late.
With all said and done, Unity has not experienced the release it’s developers and fans would have hoped for.
The wired Razer Naga was not the only Naga to get a facelift in 2014. The top of the line Razer Naga Epic also received a similar treatment. The mouse was also rebranded as the Razer Naga Epic Chroma, joining Razer’s Chroma line-up of multi-coloured LED PC accessories. The MMO-oriented mouse features a grid of twelve mechanical buttons on the right hand side of the mouse, a four way mouse wheel, two top buttons for adjusting sensitivity, and an 8,200 DPI laser sensor.
The Razer Naga Epic Chroma’s box is rather humbly sized for one of Razer’s top of the line mice, unlike the huge museum style container that the Razer Ourosboros was packed in. Slide off the slip and inside is a lovely clam-shell style box that feels more in line with the Razer Naga Epic Chroma’s $129.99 USD pricing. Inside is the hefty dock, a specially designed micro-USB cable, the mouse itself, and Razer’s usual pack-ins.
Installation is pain free. The Razer Naga Epic Chroma can accept the included micro-USB cable in the dock or the mouse itself. The dock is automatically paired with the mouse and the mouse can be turned off and on with a switch located underneath the mouse. Although the mouse works without any drivers installed, Razer Synapse 2.0 will need to be installed to get the most out of the myriad of buttons on the Naga.
The dock is a sturdy piece of plastic. Between its weight and the sticky plastic on the bottom of the dock, there is no way the dock is moving anywhere. There is a generous curve in the dock design that lets the Naga Epic Chroma drop onto the dock and start charging without much hassle or adjustment. A small nub on the dock corresponds with a small dip on the bottom of the mouse keeps and a small magnet is built into the dock keeps the mouse in place while charging.
The switch between wired/wireless modes is similar to Razer’s previous mice. The user simply needs to unplug the micro-USB cable from the dock and plug it into the mouse. The cable is designed with a very obvious top and bottom, which avoids the usual frustration of having to plug in USB cable a few times until the correct plug orientation is discovered. The plug is also designed to look like part of the mouse design, so when the Razer Naga Epic Chroma is plugged in, the only sign that the mouse is not a wired only mouse is a faint line near the mouse wheel.
The battery is rated to last 20 hours. Though it isn’t confirmed by Razer, it is probably safe to say that the battery is a lithium-ion type pack. Unfortunately, the battery is not user replaceable. Compared to the NIMH battery design the Razer Ourosboros uses, the Razer Naga Epic Chroma sacrifices user serviceability for a longer battery life and a lighter weight.
The Razer Naga Epic Chroma is actually on the smaller end of gaming mice. It is not quite as small as laptop mice, but at 119mm in length and 75mm in width, the mouse is actually usable with a claw-grip with my small hands. The mouse has a pretty aggressive hump where the palm rests and has ditched the three side panels that came bundled with the original Naga Epic. The new side panel design has a nice big groove for the ring finger to rest on and a rubbery panel with a hex pattern engraved for grip. Razer claims the new design is more comfortable for a larger range of hand types. Personally, I found the design to be really comfortable for long periods.
One of the new design features of the Razer Naga Epic Chroma is the new thumb panel. The buttons have been replaced with mechanical switches that have a very nice click to them. The feeling definitely isn’t as crisp as the main mouse buttons, but feel better than most side panel buttons found on gaming mice. The side panel’s design also changed. Previously the Razer Naga Epic Chroma featured a design that curved outwards. Now the panel is curved inwards and the two centre buttons 5 and 8 are positioned higher than the remaining twelve. I was a little intimidated by the thought of using twelve buttons on a thumb panel by touch, but the new design really works! With a little bit of practice I was able to start hitting buttons without much thought. The biggest challenge is actually memorizing all 12 key bindings.
The 8200 DPI laser sensor works like a charm. It is overkill for MMORPGs, but the sensor is accurate and performed without problems. The sensor can be adjusted for polling rates, acceleration, and up to five different stages of sensitivity can be set through Razer Synapse 2.0. X and Y axis sensitivity can be set independently, if that’s what floats your boat.
As part of the Chroma series, the Razer Naga Epic Chroma is armed with multicolour LEDs. The user can select from 16.8 million different colours for the thumb buttons and the middle mouse buttons. Razer Synapse 2.0 is only capable of cycling colours, but the LEDs do a great job of it. Many multicolour LEDs have a very obvious blink when switching between colours, but Razer’s manages to stay at a consistent brightness level and scroll through smoothly. To save batteries, different brightness settings can be set for wired and wireless modes along with the ability to disable lighting when the monitor goes to sleep.
Razer Synapse 2.0 has some extra features designed to leverage the multitude of macros and keybinds that will be used with the Razer Naga Epic Chroma. Each profile stores 8 key maps each. An in-game configurator can be accessed in game to make quick changes to the profile, key maps, sensitivity, and macros. The in-game configurator officially supports most of the biggest MOBA and RTS titles, but I found it worked for many other games not listed on Razer’s support page. World of Warcraft players get an additional in-game addon that will help players configure their Nagas in game. I like the fact Razer Synapse 2.0 allows gamers to bind images to each of the twelve thumb pad buttons, allowing for quick reference in the in-game configurator tool. Profiles can be triggered with specific .exes, though I find it does not play well with some Origin-based games. My biggest complaint is how resource hungry Razer Synapse 2.0 is, as the core process normally eats up 50-80MB of memory and Synapse 2.0 itself eats up another 50-100 MB of memory.
Although the Razer Naga Epic Chroma is designed for MMO gamers, I’ve had a great experience with the mouse in other genres of games. For a small handed gamer like me, this mouse has been a God send. It’s been a refreshing to be able to easily reach all buttons on my mouse and a huge boost to the number of keys I have access to. I’ve finally been able to call in score streaks in Call of Duty games without having to hunt around on my keyboard for the number keys and actually reach more than the ten or so extra keys around my WASD keys.
Razer has knocked it out of the park with the Razer Naga Epic Chroma. The mouse is well designed, the sensor is dead accurate, and the Synapse 2.0 software is feature packed. The weakest part of the package is Razer Synapse 2.0, but not by much, as it’s a tad RAM hungry. At a $129.99 USD, the mouse is an expensive buy, the mouse is absolutely worth the purchase.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Its that time of the year again, football fans. PES 2015 has hit stores everywhere, and seems to be a fresh start for the franchise as it enters a new generation. Boasting new features, upgraded visuals, and much more, this installment does a lot to capture the fans’ attention.
Konami have reiterated the prime features upon release, which include:
Completely reworked performance – Shooting, goal-keeping, precise aim and control over a shot’s power and also unlimited shot styles. Goal-keepers AI have been updated, as well as passing, final ball to the front line, knock-ons, daisy-cutter passes and close control.
Teams are automatically set to play as their counterparts, and a weekly update download will reflect the current form of players.
myClub offers an overhaul of the Master League – detail extending to attitudes of players, agents, preparation and development of their side.
Online play is easier to use, with simpler ranking games, new Online Divisions with relegation and promotions, dedicated 11-vs-11 lobbies and all-new cheat measures in place.
Day one download includes 93 new kits and 8 more licensed teams; including Sparta Praha, FK Partisan, and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Not a bad list at all, and you should do yourself a favor and pick up a copy today. Stay tuned for our own review very soon.
Nintendo are pushing Pokemon Omega Ruby and Pokemon Alpha Sapphire hard before its release this Saturday and The Pokemon Company have now released an animated short about the game similar to the one released before Pokemon Black & White 2 were made available. This new short focuses on the main characters Brendan and May as they begin their Pokemon journey and travel throughout Hoenn advancing through the world very much as the player will do on their adventure.
The other focus was Mega Evolution and Primal Reversion with every Mega form being showcased in gorgeous animated form with many battling each other such as Mega Gallade and Mega Diancie. The animated short is available for your viewing pleasure below and after you watch why not let us know which new Mega Evolution is your favourite in the comments below. It’s a close call between Mega Beedrill and Mega Pidgeot for me. Deoxys among many other legends were recently announced to be present in the new remakes, follow this link to learn more about them.
