Atari announced that Dreampainters, the team behind the highly regarded indie horror title Anna, is the team behind the latest Haunted House game. Haunted House: Cryptic Graves is a first person adventure horror game that puts players inside the haunted Abbadon Grange Estate. The house is filled to the brim with ghosts and deadly traps. The player have nothing but their wits and psychic powers to protect them. To drive out the ghosts and monsters that creep through the halls, players will use their potent psychic abilities to solve the many puzzles hidden in the house.
Haunted House: Cryptic Graves will be released for the PC. Learn more at the official Haunted House: Cryptic Graves website.
Atari revealed a new addition to the venerable Alone in the Darkhorror franchise at PAX Prime with a teaser trailer. Developed by the new studio Pure FPS, Alone in the Dark: Illumination is a four player co-operative horror title which draws inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft. Four unique characters must synergize their abilities to overcome The Darkness. Two of the characters trace their lineage back to two major characters from the original Alone in the Dark. The only safe place in Alone in the Dark: Illumination are the illuminated spots that are scattered across the town of Lorwich and created by players.
The game will launch for PC and runs on the Unreal 4 engine. Learn more at the official Alone in the Dark: Illuminationwebsite.
Nintendo is looking to end 2014 on a high note with a strong list of titles and there Skylanders/Disney Infinity like Amiibo figures due before the years end. We now have an official price for Amiibo figures in Australia as well as the launch line up which will consist of 12 characters including Mario, Peach, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Pikachu, Kirby, Fox, Marth, Villager and Wii Fit Trainer, with each Amiibo retailing for $17.95. More figures will be available in the future and Super Smash Bros. will be the first title to fully cater for Amiibo.
We still don’t know the exact functionality or even have a release date for Amiibo yet (we are guessing it will launch alongside Super Smash Bros. which is set for a December release), but we do know that in the Smash Bros. series you will be able to level them up and let them fight for you in battles to earn experience. You can also battle against your friends Amiibos in this way. Check out the gallery below for all the official hi-res shots of the initial Amiibo launch figures.
Other notable game releases from Nintendo before the years end include (click on each title for more information):
Hyrule Warriors – Releasing on September 20th, this Zelda/Dynasty Warriors cross over title will see gameplay from the Dynasty Warriors series set in the world of Zelda featuring all the famous locations and characters you know and love. Over 14 characters are playable from Link, Zelda and even enemies such as Ghirahim and Ganondorf. Nintendo is supporting this title with a variety of add on content, the first pack being free and arriving with the games launch, adding a fun new mode, weapon and the option to select music.
Super Smash Bros. – Coming to 3DS on October 4th and Wii U sometime in December, those who purchase both versions and claim them on Club Nintendo will receive a free soundtrack packed with songs from the game. Shulk, the main protagonist from Xenoblade Chronicles was recently revealed to be the latest new comer to the roster.
Bayonetta 2 – Featuring over the top battles, wild weapons, crazy locations and an all new story, Bayonetta seems to be the greatest action games heading to Wii U this year. In one of the best bonuses ever from Nintendo, the original Bayonetta will be included in the retail package giving you two games for the price of one. The game has been fully remade and optimised for the Wii U and will also feature bonus costumes such as Samus and Peach outfits for the main heroine to don. If you are purchasing this digitally, the two games will be available as a standalone purchase however pricing details have not been announced. EB games is currently offering Bayonetta 2 for $99 while JB Hifi has the title at the more standard Wii U title price of $79.
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric for Wii U & Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal for Nintendo 3DS – This branching path of the Sonic franchise will see both titles launching on 29th November. Both games introduce a unique and epic adventure as Sonic and team work together to stop the evil villain Lyric. Players can play as multiple characters, each with their own abilities, as they explore, fight and speed through an undiscovered land. Both games will feature unique stories, locaations and even different playable characters, with the 3DS version allowing you to play as new team mate Styx.
Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire – Coming to 3DS and the eShop on November 21st, the most requested remakes of the original third gen Game Boy Advance games are finally being realised, featuring all the best features of those titles like super contests and secret bases to new features such as brand new mega evolutions and online features.
Ultimate NES Remix – Available in stores and on Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS on 8th November, the game features rapid-fire challenges and mash-ups from a selection of 16 of Nintendo’s finest 8-bit games. Regional online leaderboards will let players see how they stack up against others in their area, and Championship Mode offers a gauntlet of challenges from three different games.
Fantasy Life – Available in stores and on Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS on 27th September, Fantasy Life lets players become the masters of their destinies as every choice they make determines their unique Fantasy Life. Players can easily change their Life Class at any time and experience how each offers a new perspective on the world. Local and online multiplayer options let friends share the adventure, the exploration and the bounty. An add-on content pack called Origin Island offers a whole new area home to an ancient culture and powerful enemies, additional story content, new ranks to achieve in Life Classes, access to even more powerful equipment and two new varieties of pets to adopt: birds and dragons.
A great selection of indie titles are also coming to the Nintendo eShop by the end of the year including:
Stealth Inc 2 from Curve Digital combines the best elements of puzzle solving, action platforming and stealth gameplay into a game that’s all about hiding in the shadows. The game launches exclusively on Wii U in Q4. The game includes a two-player co-op mode, level editor, off-TV play and Miiverse integration.
Swords & Soldiers II is a side scrolling action strategy game from Ronimo Games launching in Q4 2014 exclusively on Wii U. The game includes 20 story missions and lets players buy units, cast spells and build structures to overwhelm enemies on a 2D battleground.
Azure Striker GUNVOLT from Inti Creates launches this summer exclusively on Nintendo 3DS. Featuring the talents of Keiji Inafune, the creator of the Mega Man series, the game takes the best aspects of Japanese 16-bit classics and updates them with new play mechanics and slick graphics. For a limited time, the game comes with a free digital copy of the 8-bit nostalgia-fuelled Mighty GUNVOLT as well.
Shovel Knight from Yacht Club Games, coming to Nintendo eShop for both Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. Head to the link to check out our review of the PC version.
And don’t think Nintendo will be stopping there with the company already planning a strong line up in 2015 for the Wii U featuring such titles as Star Fox, Kirby, Yoshi’s Wooly World, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Splatoon, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Devil’s Third, Mario Maker, Project Giant Robot, Project Guard, Mario vs Donkey Kong, Mario Party 10, Art Academy and probably the most anticipated, the newest installment in The Legend of Zelda series which is said to be an open world epic.
The 3DS is not to be left out, with Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, Code Name S.T.E.A.M, Fossil Fighters: Frontier and the reveal of purchasable themes that you can apply to your home screen that will be available after a planned system update in October. This is alongside the announcement of the New Nintendo 3DS that will also have specific titles such as the port of Xenoblade Chronicles from the Wii.
So it definitely looks like the next year and a bit are going to be very strong for the Big N who really struggled to get their home console off the ground this generation. Hopefully these upcoming titles will be a success so we can continue to see what the company releases for years to come. Let us know in the comments below what your most anticipated upcoming title is and what you think of the Amiibos. We look forward to reading and replying to them.
If you played the lovely and wonderous Kirby Triple Deluxe (review can be found here, you happy readers), you probably noticed the two mini-games of sorts that were featured within the cartridge. The first was Kirby Fighters, which was a Smash clone with only Kirby hats, and the other was a odd little rhythm-action romp titled Dedede’s Drum Dash.
Without anyone having to put in a request, Nintendo have added a ton of content to each and made them both available for the eShop separately at just $6.99. Kirby Fighters Deluxe features new abilities, a new team battle mode with double team attacks, and new stages, while Dedede’s Drum Dash Deluxe adds seven new stages and new modes. If you think you don’t need these two due to your ownership of Kirby Triple Deluxe, well – you need to open that mind and also know that your Streetpass data will gain you exclusive goodies with each. Check out both trailers down below and you can find each title on the 3DS eShop as of today.
I know. I myself am rather tired of seeing every website in existence covered with these videos of people dumping water on themselves. I almost didn’t want to post this, but hey – its rather decent. Reggie Fils-Aime has answered the challenge from Microsoft’s Phil Spencer, and the results are pretty awesome.
Along with a lot of familiar faces from Nintendo, Reggie had ice water dumped on his head in order to raise awareness for ALS, as well as to actually donate. Mario is even cheering Nintendo’s leader on with claps, so yeah, the video is worthy of a watch if you are wanting a nice chuckle. Watch the clip down below and dump water on you head afterwards if you must.
Many people are probably familiar with Touhou Project, or if you aren’t familiar but have spent any time on the internet, then you have probably seen at least one or two characters from the long running franchise. Unfortunately many people have never played any of the Touhou shmup games simply because they have never been released in English nor on consoles as they have always been PC exclusives.
As such it came as quite a surprise last night when Sony revealed that Touhou Project would be coming to the PlayStation 4 and PS Vita. Now series creator Zun has revealed a few more details by saying that the games that will be heading to the Sony platforms are not developed by him but fan made projects that he will be encouraging.
The slogan for this project is currently “Touhou fans will create and grow it, together with PlayStation.” While no release date was announced, three games have so far been announced, with more planned, and they are called Mystery Gensokyo 3, The Genius of Sappheiros, and Touhou Sky Arena Matsuri.
Earlier today during Sony’s press conference, the first trailer for Resident Evil HD was released in Japanese and you can check it out below. Capcom also announced that the game would feature professional voice actors this time around, which might sound a bit strange until you realize just how bad the original voice work for the game was.
Currently it is unknown if the Japanese voice overs will be available in the Western release of the game, or if the voice work will also be redone for the English release, but we can expect some sort of announcement before the title is released in early 2015.
Yesterday it was revealed that Koei Tecmo is planning on releasing Dead or Alive 5: Last Round in Spring 2015 for Japan and today the company had some more details to share with their fans. First of all, Dead or Alive 5: Last Round will be available for both current and past-gen consoles, meaning it is heading to the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.
Second in this new trailer, which can be found below, we see a confirmation that Marie Rose and Nyotengu will be available in the game and those with a keen eye will be able to catch a few new stages, costumes, and tag moves as well.
It is currently unknown how that little tidbit at the end regarding Senran Kagura will play out since it might just be a promotional deal, but we can probably expect more news on that in the future.
I personally have had a long and storied history with The Sims franchise that started with the original game. From the moment I played, I was hooked. The combination of playing god and building these incredible mansions was just downright fun. Then as a teen, I logged some serious hours in The Sims 2, building Resident Evil’s Spencer Mansion with almost 1:1 accuracy, among many other feats, only to have my entire game directory deleted by my girlfriend at the time after one of our disagreements.
That pretty much killed my desire to play The Sims anymore, and I only dabbled lightly in The Sims 3 when it launched before finally giving up. Then EA announced The Sims 4 and I was intrigued, I now had a better computer and no crazy girlfriend that would delete my save file, so I started paying attention and with more and more information that got released (like the new Create-A-Sim and the new way that Build Mode would work) I started to get really interested.
Now we are only a few days away from the release of The Sims 4, and I was lucky enough to go and get some serious hands-on time with the game courtesy of EA. I got to play the complete build that will be available this Thursday, and I got to be excited for a Sims game once again. So with that in mind, I thought I would share with you all what I learned, and what I thought about it all before the game’s release on September 4th. Enjoy!
Create-A-Sim
Since many of you out there have no doubt been playing through the Create-A-Sim Demo, and because I have previously spoken at length about the new system, I wont delve too much into it. What I will say however is that if you felt the demo was lacking in style options, then your mind is about to be officially blown. I would hazard a guess and say that the demo only contains about 1/3 of the clothing options available at launch. With the new precision face and body sculpting combined with a plethora of wardrobe options, you should be able to make your Sims EXACTLY how you want them, down to the smallest detail. Not only that but if you are not great at creating Sims from scratch, then you can just open the gallery and download something that someone else has made. Want to put Captain America and Jessica Rabbit into your town? Now you can with just a few simple clicks!
Build Mode
Some serious changes have happened with the build mode and I could go so far as to say that it might entirely change how people play. You still have access to all those fun tools, from before that allow you to create your dream house, or a single-bedroom style shack, but now you can do it quicker, easier and with much more precision.
The biggest addition is probably the fact that you can insert an entire room into your house. From the new “Styled Rooms” option you can place a completely furnished room right into the house in a matter of seconds. Each category of room (ie: study, lounge, bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, etc) has around about 7 different pre-built rooms, and each of these rooms has three different colour-coordinated themes. Not only that, but once you place a room you can drag, move and reshape the room as you see fit. This is a feature that EA have really drove home in their presentations about the game, and while it seems kind of trivial, once you actually use it you get to see how valuable a tool it really is. I imagine it is especially helpful for people who don’t want to worry about building houses, or those who just don’t know how to make a building that their Sims will love.
Once you have pieced together your house, it is all about the furnishings. The Sims 4 comes with just about every little piece of furniture that you might want to put into your house. Well, almost anything. I wanted to place a pool table for my Sim to relax with during his down time, but there was none to be found. No doubt this will be available in a later expansion pack, but a little disappointing that I couldn’t place one from the get-go.
One thing that always annoyed me as a player was the roofs. Making roofs that looked good was a laborious and almost impossible task, and eventually I would just give up and have this automatically created monstrosity sitting on top of my elegant resort-style manor, and it really was one of the game’s biggest faults. Now, the roof tools have changed, and you get complete control over the roofing. A new suite of tools means that the little angles on top of your house will now look excactly how you want them to.
That roof was so simple to create, yet looks awesome! I never could have done that in The Sims 2 or 3
Live Mode – Emotions, Whims & Multitasking
The Sims 4 plays a lot like previous Sims games; you move your Sim into a house, make them some friends, get them a job and basically control every aspect of their lives. Well now with the addition of emotions and whims, there is now more control and more depth to the game than ever before. All of these emotions and whims starts with the character traits that you select for your Sim.
My Sim has apparently never used a weight machine before, unlike his new friend.
Those who are familiar with Sims 3 or with the Sims 4 Create-A-Sim Demo will know that you can select a number of ambitions and traits for your Sims when you first create them. These dictate the type of Sim you create. For example, the Sim that I used was Self-Assured, Childish and Lazy. From the moment he moved into his home, these traits shined through in his available dialogue and interaction options. For example, even though it was 8:00am in the morning, my Sim wanted to take a nap to fulfill his “Lazy” trait. Not only that, but the type of traits a Sim has can determine which of the game’s many emotions that they can feel at any given time.
My Sim was Self-Assured, so he was regularly feeling confident in himself and his abilities. In addition to being able to talk to just about anyone confidently, he also got special interaction options with furniture in his house. The most notable of this was to “Pee like a champion.” I didn’t notice anything particularly different with him peeing like a champion, but the fact that he could gave me a bit of a laugh.
“Pee like a champion.” Damn straight!
Traits aren’t the only way that Sim’s emotions can be affected however, as the way a Sim feels will change as they go through their daily life. My Sim was trying to flirt with someone that he met at the gym, only to fail spectacularly and become really embarassed and awakward. When he was like this, he was adamant about getting away from all people and locking himself away. These new emotions and the whims that they cause really create a sense of life and realism to the whole game.
Without a doubt the new feature that excited me the most was the fact that Sims can now multitask! This can be as simple as having a conversation between multiple NPC Sims, or even just to eat a grilled cheese sandwich on the couch while watching TV. Giving Sims the ability to multitask really makes the game feel more natural and lifelike, while also allows for unique interactions that simply were not possible in previous games. Sims can now spot each other at the gym, or can sling insults at someone who is trying to flirt.
My Sim was just casually playing chess in the park, when this dirty man came up and just started talking smack…
Final Thoughts
I have spent a pretty reasonable amount of time checking out the forums and finding out what people have to say about the next iteration of EA’s person-sim, and a lot of people seem to be worried that too much content has been taken out. While it is understandable to be upset at the lack of pools in the base-game (a feature that has been present in the games since the original Sims), I think I understand why many of these changes have taken place and it is really a two-fold system. Firstly, the changes have resulted in a game that still retains the look and feel that Sims players have come to love, but at the same time has managed to cut down on processing power to ensure that it gets into the hands of as many people as possible.
Secondly, and probably most importantly; the people aspect of The Sims has been brought front and center. Emotions are a major part of the way The Sims 4 operates, and it dictates how characters will interact with one another and with objects and furniture in their own houses. While this is a little bit of a change from the past games, it will be interesting to see how this slight adjustment in direction changes the series. One thing’s for sure: we don’t have to wait too long until we are all able to grab The Sims 4 off of the shelves.
Set amongst the backdrop of WWII, The Monuments Men is loosely based on the tales of The Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program” who were a group of allied soldiers who were task with the rescue and aquisition of priceless historical and cultural artifacts before they were destroyed by the Nazi regime. The film deviates greatly from the real-world events by not only changing the names of the characters and many of the events to provide a more fluid and entertaining narrative. Unfortunately this doesn’t quite hit the mark.
Story
Set in 1943, in the midst of World War II, The Monuments Men follows Frank Stokes (George Clooney) as he convinces the US President that victory over the Axis powers will mean nothing if the end result is the destruction of priceless and irreplaceable pieces of art. To this end he is tasked with creating a team that are colourfully known as The Monument Men who’s task is to enter the enemy controlled regions and safely steal the priceless paintings and return them to allied soil. The team obviously runs into opposition on both sides, as the allied forces don’t want to change their battle tactics just to save a few paintings. It is a fine enough set-up for a film and actually helps to set it apart from the rest of the war movie genre. However, Clooney and his band of men aren’t always able to keep the plot flowing at a good enough pace.
The Monuments Men is filled to the brim with some of Hollywood’s best actors. Not only does Clooney himself pull double duty as the director and the film’s lead, but he is joined by other Hollywood A-Listers like Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray and Cate Blanchett. Unfortunately though. all of this talent doesn’t work in the film’s favor, with many scenes feeling watered down and no characters getting their chance to shine.
The film is very episodic in nature, breaking up the cast into small groups and having them each off on their own adventures. To this end, it really does feel like the movie would have done better as a four or five episode miniseries or even a full-fledged television program. As a film it just feels disjointed, and we as an audience have a hard time getting to really know any of these characters before the perspective changes and we are following a different group. It is an interesting note that the medium of delivery for something like this really affects the overall experience. Had The Monuments Men been released as a mini-series, I would feel a lot more positive having watched it.
Don’t get me wrong though, I didn’t dislike the film. In fact I found its combination of humor and wartime drama to be a healthy mix and was pretty entertained through the entire viewing. The stories, although somewhat disjointed are all fun and had me wondering how much of the film’s historical basis was actually kept (turns out, not all that much). However if you are a history buff, you will probably be pointing out inaccuracies every few minutes, so you just need to go int there knowing that it isn’t meant to be an accurate recount of what happened.
The actors themselves also attribute to the problem. In many scenes, the delivery just falls flat. I’m not sure whether the team weren’t giving it their all, or Clooney needs a little more time in the director’s chair but this definitely wasnt the greatest performances of anybody’s career. Again not to say that the acting was terrible, just that a certain level is expected and they didn’t live up to it.
I should also note that this just isn’t the type of movie that Hollywood makes anymore. In a world that is filled with action stars and super heroes, adaptations of real-world historical events tend to fall by the wayside. While it is sad to see less and less of these types of movies, it is kind of easy to understand why. The whole film, while entertaining does often feel like a museum-style educational docu-drama that you would have been shown in highschool. There aren’t all that many big-budget climactic moments in the film, and in the end it does come off kind of indie (which, considering its $70,000,000 budget is I’m sure not what was intended).
Visuals & Audio
One thing that can be said about The Monuments Men is that it is incredibly well filmed. The entire movie was filmed on location in Germany and Britain, and it really adds a feel of authenticity to the whole package. The costumes of not only the main actors, but all of the background extras fit the time and setting perfectly, and it is easy to let yourself imagine this squad really existing (which they sort of, kind of did).
As I mentioned above, a lot of the actor’s performances through the film are sub-par, and many feel incredibly forced. The emotion that is meant to be portrayed in many scenes just comes across as insincere. I am typically not the type of person to be sucked out of a movie experience from a few poorly delivered lines, but there was just something about the whole presentation of The Monuments Men that really made me notice when it was happening.
Overall
George Clooney and Matt Damon together in a film about a group of men trying to steal something priceless from a foe that should for all intents and purposes be impossible. You could almost take the description of this movie and swap it for Ocean’s Eleven. Regardless of its similarities, Clooney does a valiant job of directing The Monuments Men and its ensemble cast. While the movie has its fair share of issues, the story of these brave men who risked their lives to save history itself is worthy to be told, and while this may have made a better television drama it is still an adequate retelling that many people will enjoy, even if they only watch it once.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
