As announced last week, the PC visual novel Chou Dengeki Stryker has now been released on Steam where for the next six days it will be available at a 45% off discount. Whereas the title usually costs $34.99, it can currently be purchased through Steam for $19.24. It is worth noting that if you have already bought either the all-ages or adults only versions of Chou Dengeki Stryker then you will automatically be given a free Steam key from Mangagamer.
For those unfamiliar with the game, a story synopsis from the company can be found below:
Yuuki Yamato has modeled his young life after the super heroes he loves. When his best friend Haruna is teased by bulError! Filename not specified.lies, he always tries to defend her — but his life is not a comic book, and things never work out as planned.
One day, after yet another failure, Haruna tells Yamato that she is moving away. She asks him to come and see her off, but Yamato — his pride still wounded — cannot find the courage to face her. When Yamato is feeling his lowest, an old man appears before him. He is known as the Memory Collector, and he will grant one wish in exchange for a memory. Yamato makes his wish: to become Dengeki Stryker, his favorite comic book hero.
Years later, an army of cyborgs from the Balbora Empire appear in the city where Haruna now lives. With the police and the army powerless against the Empire’s mechanical might, it falls to a single hero to stop them — a hero who looks remarkably like Dengeki Stryker!
GoD Factory: Wingmen is an arcade flight sim. Two teams of four pilots will do attempt to destroy the enemy carrier while simultaneously attempting to defend their own. The game features an extensive ship customization system and four unique races.
Story
As a purely competitive multiplayer game, GoD Factory: Wingmen does not have a story. Although each of the four races have a distinctive ship design, there is no back story to explain these designs.
Gameplay
Upon starting the game, players will choose two of the four races, which will provide them with their first two ships. Additional ships will need to be purchased with currency earned from completing matches and finishing the tutorial missions. As players gain experience from matches and level up, new ship bodies and parts will be unlocked. More advanced versions of individual parts can be purchased after unlocking them with enough mastery points. The end result is an extremely robust customization system that will allow experienced players to create ships geared exactly for a certain play style.
Players will bring two ships from their hanger into each battle. They can freely switch between them by flying back to their carrier’s hanger, allowing the docked ship to recover shields and restock ammunition. When a ship is destroyed in combat, the player is saddled with a respawn timer and the ship is replaced with a drone from their race. The drones are weaker ships with a pre-set load out. Players will have access to an unlimited number of drones, but the respawn timer is longer than the time needed to turn a ship around from the enemy carrier and fly back to the player’s dock. The system encourages for conservative play, which may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
Two players can make an agreement to share their ships for the duration of the match. A player who has lost both their ships can get into their friend’s ship or a lower level player can fly much better ships with this feature. Though I personally would find the first situation to be of dubious tactical value, the feature is handy for pre-made groups of friends.
There is only one game mode in GoD Factory: Wingmen. It is an objective based mode where both teams have a giant carrier ship measuring thirteen kilometers in length. Each ship has seven integrity points and cannons that will fire every three minutes, knocking out one integrity point. Destroying parts of the ship will remove another integrity point along with providing an additional effect, such as loss of radar range. These parts are extremely tough and require a serious co-ordinated attack to destroy. However, because cannons fire every three minutes, the game is theoretically capped out at around 21 minutes. The mode is a lot of fun as a wide variety of strategies can be employed. The limited amount of players means each player must pull their weight, whether they are attacking, defending, or skirmishing in the centre.
GoD Factory: Wingmen can be controlled with the mouse/keyboard, joystick, or controller. I could not get my Xbox 360 controller to properly work for me. No matter how many times I went through the configuration system, I could not get the game to register boosted maneuvers, which put me at a serious disadvantage. The mouse and keyboard on the other hand worked like a charm. The default controls are very friendly to mouse and keyboards, which is not common for flight based games.
Over the course of the game, the controller issue was not the only glitch I encountered. The tutorial was another major problem. After a while, it was impossible to access the tutorial. The game simply hung on the controller selection screen and refused to do anything. The only way around the bug was to forcibly quit the game and avoid starting the tutorial in the future.
Like many multiplayer indie games, GoD Factory: Wingmen’s biggest weakness is the lack of players. I had a hard time finding a game with more than a few human players. Empty slots on teams can be filled with bots. The game’s bots make for a mildly entertaining partner as they are reasonably competent pilots, but their strategy was rather predictable.
Visuals
God Factory: Wingmen’s strength is in its awesome ship design. Each of the four races have a distinct ship style and they look like they would fit right in with an anime mecha series. The UI is very good. It is extremely practical, though the design looks a bit standard for a sci-fi title.
On the hardware front, for those brave enough to own an Oculus Rift developer’s kit will find the title compatible. Performance wise, the game ran without a hiccup. There are an average amount of settings to tinker with in the options screen.
Audio
The soundtrack is filled with tracks that evoke a sense of epic scale and intensity. There are several different tracks that will play over a course of the battle which keeps things fresh. I felt the game mimicked the soundtrack of action games from Japan, which fits in well with the visual design. The sound effects were rather average, as they felt a bit limp at times.
Overall
GoD Factory: Wingmen is a decent game. The single game mode is a boat load of fun and there are plenty of customization options to keep tinkerers happy. However, the game needs more players. It is definitely worth a play if you can even round up three friends who are willing to play a 2 vs 2 match with bots providing extra manpower, but the game feels a bit empty when solo.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Overview For quite some time, visual novels were disregarded by many publishers in the West due to various reasons, with translation hurdles and being a niche product being some of those reasons. However in recent years not only are more visual novels being officially released in English, a few have even cropped up on handhelds.
Despite this, there remained one company, Key, that has always had a reputation for creating great stories but none of this Key’s products were ever officially released in English. That is until Sekai Project announced that they were working with Key to release an official English version of Planetarian ~the reverie of a little planet~ on Steam. Now that this older visual novel has been released, is it a worth picking up?
Story In the future, the Earth has been turned into an apocalyptic wasteland. Due to advanced technology and incredibly lethal weaponry being used indiscriminately, humanity has been nearly wiped from the face of the planet. Those that are still alive struggle to stay alive as not only are resources incredibly scarce which causes fighting amongst survivors, but powerful robots of war continue to patrol the wasteland, following their long forgotten orders.
To make matters worse the skies have long clouded over and tainted rainfall is the only constant in their lives. The story follows a man with no name who is simply called Junker, a profession where one must travel into dangerous areas to scavenge for supplies and valuable items. With his luck seemingly running out, he enters what he believes to be a military structure only to find that the inside of the building is nothing like he expected and it also contains a lone occupant.
This occupant happens to be a young woman, or should I say female looking robot, named Hoshino Yumemi. Yumemi has been keeping watch over this building, a planetarium, for the past thirty years with no knowledge of the events that have befallen the world since then. Instead she gladly waits for the next customer to arrive so she can show them the stars. With the gruff Junker used to a gray world full of danger and death around every corner coming face to face with the ever cheerful and incessantly talkative Yumemi, there is an immediate clash between the old world and the current apocalyptic one.
To go any further into the various aspects of the story in Planetarian ~the reverie of a little planet~ would be doing you a disservice as this story is one that is best experienced when you have no idea what to expect. Just know that there is a reason that Key’s stories have always been sought after in the West and Planetarian is a great example of why that is as it explores existential themes and tugs at your emotions.
Gameplay It is worth noting that Planetarian ~the reverie of a little planet~ is a “Kinetic Novel” which means that unlike other visual novels, there are no choices to be made nor are there any separate endings. The story is one that is told through a single playthrough with the player only clicking to advance the dialogue, or selecting auto mode if they simply wish to read as the text advances. You can also back through the text log to read or listen to the dialogue again by pressing Yumemi’s ribbon icon.
Because of the linear story, there are only five available save slots, but this isn’t an issue as not only is the story only about three hours long, players can load from the beginning of any chapter. There are a few customizable aspects in the novel, as players can choose which font type they would like the story to be displayed in and, if you can read Japanese characters, players can choose to switch the text language to Japanese through Steam if they wish.
Once the game is completed, a few extra options open up in the form of a CG gallery as well as a music mode that contains all of the background music, including the opening and ending songs, used in the game and additional details about each song, such as the composer, arranger, etc.
Visuals & Audio It is worth noting that since there are a limited number of characters in Planetarian ~the reverie of a little planet~, the only actual character model shown off happens to be Yumemi. One can tell that the artist spent a lot of time working with her character portrait because of this, since not only does she feature a number of different expressions but her ribbon changes patterns and colors to fit her actions.
There are only a few actual CGs present in the story, with some of the CGs featuring constant rain animation, however they are nicely drawn and set a proper atmosphere for the events that are unfolding, which is assisted by fitting background music that ranges from peppy to dangerous in tone. Both Junker and Yumemi are voiced in this release of Planetarian ~the reverie of a little planet~, which is essential considering how little time the novel has to draw the player into the story and invest in what is happening.
Overall Planetarian ~the reverie of a little planet~’s straightforward nature and relatively short length might be a catching point for some, but those who do choose to pick up this visual novel will find themselves a masterfully told story that that accomplishes something very few visual novels are able to do. Leave a lasting impression on the player as they remember the story long after the credits roll.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Ubisoft announced the release of the “Pagan Min: King of Kyrat” figurine as part of their UbiCollectibles line. The figurine depicts Pagan Min from Far Cry 4 leaning up lazily against a wall with pistol in hand and an AK-47 leaning up against the wall nearby. Street artist C215’s artwork of a tiger is found in the background. The figuring will be available on November 18th, 2014. Pre-orders are currently being accepted on Uplay.
Far Cry 4is set in Kyrat, a fictional region of Nepal. Pagan Min has appointed himself king and is now oppressing the locals. Players will play Ajay Ghale as he joins a revolution to overthrow Min. The game will be released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Windows on November 20th 2014 in Australia and November 18th for the rest of the world.
Bandai Namco presented Dragon Ball Xenoverse once again at the Tokyo Game Show and for the most part the presentation was identical to their previous show except for one sneaky difference. The trailer showed at this presentation was an extended edition featuring two more minutes of footage including more story scenes, more customisation options (including a Yardrat outfit, Great Saiyaman costume and Ox King helmet) and just more epicness in general.
You can view the new extended trailer below and also check out our recent Dragon Ball Xenoverse article which covers a number of points in detail from new story elements, battle mechanics and more information about how the online hub world Toki Toki City works. You can also check out our extended coverage of all the news from Tokyo Game Show 2014by following the link. This is the best video we have of the trailer for now but will update with the official HD version as soon as Bandai Namco uploads it to their Japanese channel.
UPDATE: The European branch of Bandai Namco have confirmed the game will also be coming to PC via Steam! English full length HD trailer also uploaded.
Hello there fellow Planeswalkers. Are you ready to grab your banners, hold them high and fight for your clan? Well you should be because the latest Magic: The Gathering set; Khans of Tarkir is here! The official prerelease weekend for the upcoming set is happening, literally as we speak! The new set is based on the plane of Tarkir, which is organised into clans that are at constant war with one another. Each clan represents a specific three-colour combination to create a gameplay experience unique and different to anything else before it. No matter if you are an aggressive war machine, or a cunning strategist there is a clan waiting to accept you into its ranks.
Zurgo Helmsmasher, Khan of the Mardu Clan of Tarkir
So what are you waiting for!? Head down to your local game storeand register for one of this weekend’s prereleases events and get yourself some Khans of Tarkir cards before they hit store shelves next week. Maybe you will crack one of the Khans themselves, or get your hands on some of the sweet land reprints that will dominate magic for years to come. If you are already playing, or you went to a midnight release last night let us know in the comments below what awesome cards you managed to pull, and remember to stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the awesome Magic: The Gathering news as it becomes available.
If you weren’t one of the lucky few to receive an early access demo from Nintendo last week your time has come. The demo for Super Smash Bros. 3DS is now up on the eShop and available for everyone to download right now.
The demo is fairly limited but does feature 5 playable characters including 3 veterans Mario, Link, Pikachu as well as two brand new fighters in Mega Man and Villager. Battlefield is the only stage available however you can switch between its normal and ‘omega’ form, which will remove all the platforms and also turn off items for the match. All matches are 2 minute time matches but you can play with up to 4 people. Fighting against the CPU and local multiplayer via wireless is supported. Here’s a small secret not many people know about the demo, if you hold R during the stage select screen you will get a song from Melee playing instead of the usual Battlefield theme!
I have played a few matches of the demo so far and while initially I had a hard time coming to grasp with the controls, I soon got that under control. I am very impressed by the smoothness of the gameplay and the visual quality the game offers, it looks amazing on the 3DSXL. So jump on the e-Shop, download the demo and drop us a comment letting us know your opinions on it. We have included the QR code below which you can scan with your 3DS camera to initiate the demo download. Hold L + R at the main menu on your 3DS to activate camera mode and then tap the QR scan button on the bottom screen to scan the code.
Battlefield: Hardline is the upcoming installment to EA’s immensely popular Battlefield franchise and it looks to be shaking up the generic “soldiers at war” format quite a bit. Forgoing traditional war zones for the urban sprawl of cops and robbers, Hardline looks to be grittier and hopefully fresher than before. One of the new game-types that Hardline is presenting is the new Hotwire mode that puts you behind the wheels of a fast car, with your gun at your side. High speed chases are the name of the game here, with the cops trying to outmaneuver and outgun the criminals using a combination of solid FPS tactics and a bit of Need for Speed thrown in.
EA have put up a short video that shows off the mode, so check it out below. You can also check out 12 minutes of single player footage here. Battlefield: Hardline is set for release next year, so make sure you stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the news and updates as they become available.
Dragon Ball Xenoverse is quickly becoming the most hyped Dragon Ball game of all time and with the latest trailer and details released from Bandai Namco at TGS it’s not hard to see why. We now have a few more details on the story and some new characters, how the online hub world will work and more details about the battle system.
Continuing the strong link between this game and Dragon Ball Online, even more characters are being brought forward from that game. Towa and Mirra, a husband and wife team and also the main villians of DBO are returning here and play a very interesting role. As known before, your custom character will travel back in time to key moments in Dragon Ball history, however now we know you will be fixing the events of history that are changed due to the actions of these new villians. One key example is when the villians take control of Raditz so he avoids Piccolo’s Special Beam Cannon altogether meaning Goku still dies but Raditz lives. It will be up to you to fix this course of events and restore the rightful course of history. Many more moments like this can be expected throughout the story.
The Supreme Kai of Time and Toki Toki Bird are another pair of new characters joining the cast, however there role in the story is still unknown. In the trailer below we can see the story will cover at least the entirety of the Z saga as well as the Bardock TV special. Scans courtesy of Kanzenshuu.
A new addition in Xenoverse is the hub world of Toki Toki City and we finally got some video footage of it to show us what it’s all about. In what looks very similar to Destiny’s hub world, players will be able to interact with other online players, pull off dance moves and poses, change costumes and go shopping for new outfit parts and items all in a free roaming environment. The outfit variety looks just as impressive as the character creator and some keen eyed users even spotted some items from Dragon Ball GT. Frieza’s race was also confirmed to be one of the races you can make a character of in a recent scan and the latest video showed how you can change the skin tone and body types of existing race types to make them look like other characters, showing off a very good impersonation of the Ginyu force.
If that wasn’t cool enough, it was confirmed that there are offline multiplayer battles of at least the 1 vs 1 variety and that there will be 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3 and even one vs many fights present in the game. In offline mode, the camera will focus on both characters as opposed to being split screen in similar fashion to the Naruto Storm series. The battle mechanics look very improved from the last time we saw them, with characters throwing punches and teleporting behind their opponents at great speed. Combos are present and so is chasing down your opponent and slamming them into the ground followed by a barrage of ki blast. Jumping, throwing and firing multiple ki blast are also confirmed as are two melee buttons in the form of strong and weak attack buttons (bound to triangle and square on the PS4 control). The melee clash from previous Dimps games is back and has both characters furiously attacking each other and then doing a back flip to reset their positions. New stages seen include the plains stage, World Tournament and Kami’s Lookout.
The game seems to be catering to all types of Dragon Ball fans, from those who like custom characters and team battles to those who like a more hardcore fighting system. Dragon Ball Xenoverse has a confirmed Japanese release date of early 2015. Be sure to check out the trailer at the very bottom of this article and some of the most recent gameplay videos straight out of Tokyo Game Show 2014 showcasing the hub world and tons of battle footage.
EA today announced Need for Speed: Rivals Complete Edition, a comprehensive version of the well received racer by Ghost Games that includes all previously released DLC. This Complete Edition will be available from October 23 in Australia and October 24 in New Zealand, digitally via Origin for PC, XBL for Xbox One and Xbox 360, and PSN for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3.
Here is a descriptive list of the aforementioned six pieces of DLC included within the Complete Edition:
Simply Jaguar Complete Pack – Includes both Cop and Racer versions of the Jaguar C-X75, the most advanced Jaguar ever created, and the Jaguar XJ220 – the world’s first Hypercar.
Ferrari Edition Special Compete Pack – Includes both Cop and Racer versions of these extreme machines – The Ferrari F40 and the Ferrari F50.
Concept Lamborghini Complete Pack – Includes both Cop and Racer versions of the astonishing Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeo and the stunning Lamborghini Miura Concept.
The Koenigsegg Agera One – The Koenigsegg One:1 is in a category of its own. It´s not a Supercar, not a Hypercar…It´s a One:1. The name refers to the almost impossible and highly sought-after ratio of one horsepower per kilogram.
Complete Movie Pack – Includes Cop and Racer versions of the GTA Spano; and Lamborghini Sesto Elemento. Plus, the Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR 722 Edition as a Cop and the Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR Roadster 722 S as a Racer.
Loaded Garage Pack – Complete your vehicle collection with the Loaded Garage Pack which includes the Ultimate Cop Pack, Ultimate Racer Pack, Premium Livery Pack, Classic Muscle Livery, Track Day Livery, VIP Matte Kit Livery and Digital Revolution Livery.
Read our review of the original release here, and check out some fresh screenshots below.
Hello there fellow Planeswalkers. Are you ready to grab your banners, hold them high and fight for your clan? Well you should be because the latest
