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Battle Royale: Angels’ Border Review

July 14, 2014

Battle Royale: Angels’ Border
Author: Koushun Takami
Artists: Mioko Ohnishi, Youhei Oguma
Publisher: Viz Media
Release Date: June 17, 2014
Price: $12.99 – Available Here

Overview
Koushun Takami’s Battle Royale is a novel that many are very familiar with due to its dark content and an extremely successful live-action movie. Despite being filled with numerous deaths and despair, Battle Royale’s death game has a few scenes that will specifically stand out in many readers’/viewers’ mind and that is the scene that unfolds in the lighthouse. Due to this being such a memorable event, the girls in the lighthouse have been given their own spin-off manga in Battle Royale: Angels’ Border. Now with this spin-off being released in North America, should fans of Battle Royale pick it up?

Story
For those unaware, the story of Battle Royale takes place in a world where Japan is under the power of the totalitarian rule of Greater East Asia and every year a horrifying military experiment is held where one class of ninth graders from the area is forced into a program where every student of the class is in a battle against one another. These ninth graders are forced to kill one another until there is only one person left standing, or if they choose to not kill each other, then every one of them will die.

Battle Royale: Angels’ Border takes place during the events of the Battle Royale story and while those familiar with the series are aware of some of the events that happened in the lighthouse where six girls have holed up in an effort to survive together only for events to unfold in a gruesome manner that epitomizes the horrific situation these students have been placed in.

The story in Battle Royale: Angels’ Border is told through two chapters, with the first chapter focusing primarily on Haruka Tanizawa and Yukie Utsumi as the two keep watch at the top of the lighthouse. During this time Haruka struggles with her own feelings as she realizes that she is in love with Yukie and will do anything to protect her, even though she knows that Yukie is in love with someone else. Little do they know that while they are up keeping watch, the rest of the girls are beginning to turn on one another.

The second chapter deals more with the events that take place before what happened at Battle Royale and involves Chisato Matsui and Shinji Mimura having a chance meeting on a day off of school where the two discuss past tragedies that have occurred in their families and how they both want to take and live for themselves and not be moved away by the flow of everything around them.

These two chapters wrap up in a manner that anyone familiar with the material expect since this is more about expanding the characters as well as giving a face to the tragedy that takes place in the story since these girls had lives and hope for a future before they were forced to participate in Battle Royale. This creates an emotional and tightly knit story despite being short and readers knowing the outcome, though it feels like there was a missed opportunity here by focusing so heavily on the past in the second chapter.

It is worth noting however that those unfamiliar with the original material will probably not be able to enjoy Battle Royale: Angels’ Border quite as much because not only does the manga only briefly go over the whole situation but also references events that take place outside of the releases’ scope.

Artwork
It is worth noting that this is a Viz Signature release, meaning that the release is larger than normal being sized at 8.2” x 5.8” meaning all of the artwork is larger and more detailed than a standard release. As mentioned before, Battle Royale: Angels’ Border is separated into two separate chapters and the artwork for each chapter is handled by a different artist. The first chapter, following Haruka and Yukie, is handled by Mioko Ohnishi, while the second chapter is handled by Youhei Oguma. Both artists have a similar looking style, with Oguma being more detailed with smaller aspects such as clothing and character details while Ohnishi’s drawings having more emotional impact and better character expressions.

This does cause a problem however due to the fact that any time that the story focuses back on the events happening in the lighthouse, there are variations in the way that some characters look, such as Haruka having a completely different hair color. Though this isn’t much of an issue due to the way the second chapter focuses on the past, it is a distracting oversight. There is also a problem with the way that the manga tends to jump from scene to scene with very little transition, which is hinted at in the bonus script.

Extra Content
There is a fair amount of extra content included in Battle Royale: Angels’ Border, beginning with a color illustration of the lighthouse and a brief rundown on what the world is like in the story. At the end of the book the original script for both chapters is included and not only does the original script give extra detail about certain scenes that were not shown in the release, perhaps due to page restrictions, as well as alternate ways a few scenes could have been shown. The book closes out with an “Afterword” from author Koushun Takami, talking about writing the story.

Overall
Rarely does a side-story add extra detail to the events that occur in the main story, especially over a decade after the original story was released, but that is what Battle Royale: Angels’ Border manages to accomplish. With the lighthouse being one of the iconic moments in Battle Royale, this release adds some extra depth to these characters that once had hope before being thrown into this twisted game, even if it does have a few issues.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Ar nosurge Limited Edition to be released by NIS America

Travis Bruno

July 14, 2014

In a very interesting turn of events, NIS America has announced that, while Koei Tecmo is going to be published and localized in North America and Europe by Koei Tecmo, they will be releasing a special limited edition version of Ar nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star when the title is released in North America on September 23rd.

This $64.99 limited edition can currently be pre-ordered through NIS America’s online store and it contains a copy of the game for the Playstation 3, a hardcover full color 26 page art book, the game’s original soundtrack in a jewel case, a collector’s box, and a 16″x23″ Ar nosurge poster. Recently a large number of screenshots and a trailer for the game were released and you can check them out here.

BABYMETAL Video And Performances With Lady Gaga

Sanjay Parbhu

July 14, 2014

So far the three pop metal idols have performed in France, Germany and the UK, now it seems more gigs have been set up for them in North America and alongside Lady Gaga.

BABYMETAL are currently doing their world tour which began at the beginning of this month, their last two shows were at the Sonisphere music festival and at London’s Forum Theater (which was a sold out gig). Before they head to Canada for the Heavy Montreal festival they will be opening for a few Lady Gaga concerts in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Denver from the 1^st of August. The 2014 tour will finish on the 14^th of September with their last gig being in Japan.

Check out the video of their London gig down below and leave us a comment below about what you think of BABYMETAL.

CC Impact! Presents Divinity: Original Sin

Jamie Laike Tsui

July 14, 2014

Senior Editor Jamie kicks off a brand new play through of Larian Studios’ Kickstarter-funded RPG Divinity: Original Sin. Viewers will get their first taste of the game’s class-less character system and an introduction to the vile murder of Councillor Jake. For more information, be sure to check out our Divinity: Original Sin review.

We livestream gameplay footage on our Twitch page. Our YouTube channel is updated with content daily. Also be sure to follow us on Twitter, and Facebook. Leave a comment here or head on over to our YouTube page and leave a comment so we know what you think and how we can improve our Impact! feature.

Be sure to check out the video below!

Sniper Elite III Review

Andrew Day

July 14, 2014

Sniper Elite III
Developer: Rebellion
Publisher: 505 Games
Platforms: Xbox 360, Xbox One , PS3, PS4, PC
Release Date: Out Now
Install Size: 20.1GB
Price: $99.95 – Available Here

Overview

Sniper Elite III is the latest in a series of WWII games that put you in the role of a sniper for the allied forces. While previous instalments had their problems, this time around the developers have listened to the fans and created a more fluid and fun experience. Open level design, great new mechanics and a sense of freedom and power really underlie this game and make it worth picking up.

Story

Set during 1942 (prior to the events of Sniper Elite and v2) in Africa, our hero, Karl Fairburne must fight against the infamous Afrika Korps and their incredible Tiger Tanks to put a stop to Hitler’s war machine before it can build the Wunderwaffe (Wonder Weapon) which will decimate the allied forces and quite possibly wipe them off the map.

The story is well-rooted in history while still maintaining enough elements to be accessible to gamers everywhere. The protagonist is your standard action-hero; quiet, stoic and driven, which really makes the whole game feel like a massive action hero power fantasy. The story itself is fairly thin and incidental to the whole gameplay experience. Although that being said, it would make a pretty cool movie if they were ever inclined to go that way.

Gameplay

By the time you get to a third game in a franchise, you usually have all the bugs and kinks worked out. It seems that Sniper Elite III has definitely done this, managing to improve on Sniper Elite V2, by eliminating a lot of the problems that players had like the linearity of levels.

Sniper Elite III doesn’t have all that many levels, but each of them will take you a considerable amount of time. Finding the perfect vantage points and taking out enemies without being spotted is a slow and purposeful process but even taking the “I’m just going to run and gun,” option will have you spending upwards of an hour on some stages.

There is not a whole lot of mission variety in Sniper Elite III, which is expected since snipers in the real world never have all that much variety in their day-to-day jobs. While it is authentic, it provides a gameplay experience that can get a little waning and repetitive after several missions.

One of the coolest gameplay mechanics of Sniper Elite III is definitely the ability to mask your shots with ambient sounds. An enemy may hear where your rifle shot came from in the open air, but wait till a plane passes overhead or a nearby machine malfunctions and you can pick off the krauts in near silence. Should your rifle be heard by the enemy however, they will have an idea as to where you are (as indicated by a ghostly silhouette of yourself at the position) meaning you can either try and pick them off before they circle in on you, or relocate to another spot and set up once again. This little thing keeps players on their toes and never resting on their laurels.

Previous Sniper Elite games suffered from incredibly linear level design. For the most part this has been done away with, giving the player a more open field to play in, as well as providing a tonne of different options and approaches to each of the missions. While some areas of the game still feel like a bottle-neck, they are fewer and further between than before.

The core focus of Sniper Elite III is without a doubt the freedom. You are free to approach missions however you choose, you are free to tackle optional objectives or leave them by the wayside, you are free to pick your weapons loadout and most of all you are free to make the game as easy or difficult as you would like.

Aside from the industry standard difficulty settings, you can customise each individual facet of the gameplay experience. Want useless enemy AI but super realistic bullet physics? You can have that… Or the inverse if that is your more your style. The world is your oyster here in Sniper Elite III.

Visuals

Visually, Sniper Elite III is an impressive game. While it may not be the best looking game on the market, it still has a lot of detail, a wide field of view and most importantly – colour. Being set in the desert gives Sniper Elite III bright blue skies, interesting landmarks and just a general change from the washed-out brown that many modern games have.

The Sniper Elite games have become infamous due to their graphic and stylish x-ray kill shots. When you fire at an enemy with your sniper rifle, a bullet-time cinematic will play that follows the bullet’s trajectory out of the gun, through the air and into the enemy. When it hits the enemy, you will get an internal shot of their muscles and bones, and you will see in gory detail as their eyes explode from having a bullet pass through them, or the back of their spine shatter outwards.

The effect is impactful and really draws you to the damage that these firearms can do without making it seem outlandish. The effect is great the first few times, but eventually players may turn it off because you can only see the back of somebody’s skull shatter so many times before it impedes on the actual gameplay experience.

Audio

There isn’t much to say about the audio here. It is really low-key and unobtrusive which helps players to focus in on what they are doing, in order to make the perfect kill. Since the game relies on abient noise as a gameplay mechanic, it is definitely a pleasure that this noise sounds authentic and realistic.

All of the game’s cinematics are narrated by the protagonist, who’s hardened gravelly voice really sets the tone. His voice allows for the opening of each level to feel less like a video game and more like a real military briefing, and gets you in the zone for the action that is about to unfold.

The sound of your gun firing is probably the most important sound in the game, and even without being super knowledgeable on guns I can say that they all sound great. The way that they sound, combined with the controller vibration as I pulled the trigger really did sucker me into the experience and made it a whole lot more enjoyable.

Overall

Sniper Elite III really stands out from other shooters. Its down to earth, almost realistic approach to war really makes the player feel like they are experience combat first hand, but that they are also in total control. This is definitely helped by the level design and freedom of choice that allow you to approach a mission exactly how you would like. While it gets a little repetitive at times, it is a fun experience without being over the top.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Dr Who Series 8 Trailer Released

Vicky Martin

July 14, 2014

The upcoming Dr Who series 8 promises to be a lot darker than its predecessors, with Peter Capaldi taking the role of the magnificent Time Lord. In the action-packed official trailer for the BBC sci-fi series, the 12th Doctor is determined to fix his past mistakes by travelling back into the darkest timelines. Let’s hope that his companion, Jenna Coleman doesn’t regret her decision to join him – for the Doctor may not be a ‘good’ man, after all.

Get your dose of the new Dr Who, when the latest series returns August 23 on BBC One.

Super Smash Bros. New Character Being Announced Tonight

Nathan Farrugia

July 14, 2014

With the release date for Super Smash Bros. Wii U and 3DS drawing ever closer, the number of unknown spots on the roster is getting smaller and Nintendo look to be decreasing that number yet again, as they have started a countdown for a new fighter intro video that will be unveiled at Midnight in Australia. Not even a single clue has been revealed as to who this new mystery fighter will be but we will do know the video will last for 3 minutes and it will be an all new character, joining latest reveals Mii Fighter, Pac Man and Lady Palutena.

If an early leak is to believed (and at this point it is hard to doubt it due to being spot on with other character reveals), than the next character to be revealed could be Shulk, the main character from the Wii RPG title Xenoblade Chronicles or the Chrous Men from the DS game Rhythm Heaven. You can check up on the countdown and watch the video live when the time comes through the Nintendo YouTube Channel or just watch it embedded below. Place your bets in the comments below as to who the new fighter is going to be or even who you want it to be. If you miss the live unveil don’t worry as we are covering aspects of Smash Bros. news as it becomes available.

Edit: Xenoblade Chronicles director Yuchiro Takeda has been reported to have retweeted a tweet from Nintendo about the new character being revealed, giving further evidence in support that Shulk will be the character revealed.

Tekken 7 Announcement Leaked Early

Nathan Farrugia

July 14, 2014

With the end of the FIFA World Cup it’s time for a new tournament to look toward a new tournament, and what better then the Seventh King of Iron Fist Tournament. Tekken is back with it’s 7th main series installment after the release of a few other titles like Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and the free-to-play Tekken Revolution. The announcement was supposed to come at the EVO fighting game tournament taking place in Las Vegas this weekend, however a logo and video was leaked early and has since been removed. Not much is known about Tekken 7 at this early stage but people were able to gather a tiny bit of information before Bandai Namco made sure the video was erased from the Internet.

Tekken 7 will run on the Unreal 4 engine to achieve high visual quality and will most likely be exclusive to the new PS4 and Xbox One consoles. For now that is all we know but we expect the leaked trailer to be legitimately available to us before the days end. Check back later for the update.

EDIT: The trailer has now been officially released and you can view it below. No gameplay is shown but a few minor story details are revealed.

The Wolf Among Us – Episode 5: Cry Wolf Review

Simon Wolfe

July 13, 2014

The Wolf Among Us – Episode 5: Cry Wolf
Developer: Telltale Games
Publisher: Telltale Games, Warner Bros.
Platform: XBLA (Reviewed), PS3, PC, Mac, iOS
Release Date: July 9th, 2014
Price: $4.99 – Available Here

Overview
The final episode of The Wolf Among Us is finally here, which means that it’s time to see how this story comes to a close. What started out as a simple murder investigation flourished into a much deeper look into the Fabletown community and how Bigby handled it every step of the way. While previous episodes suffered from a lack of exploration and actually finding clues to piece together, it will be interesting to see if the trend continues through here or remain much more focused on the dialogue. Let’s see what Episode 5: “Cry Wolf” has to offer.

Story
The previous episode, “In Sheep’s Clothing”, left off in a fairly large cliffhanger, with Bigby finally confronting the Crooked Man, who appears to be at the heart of Fabletown’s current problems. Unfortunately, the room is also filled to the brim with all of Crooked Man’s associates, which means that it won’t be as easy as just taking the man into custody. It is easy to guess what will happen next as other character’s have previously noted that “everything” goes to shit when Bigby is around and of course this is no different.

So, while the previous episode dealt with Bigby and Snow trying to find Crooked Man’s hideout location, “Cry Wolf” sees Bigby trying to find and detain those that actually took part in the murders. With all the choices that players have been given however and the choices presented here as well, it is easy to see just how different things can be depending on what players had done previously, as well as how they handle the chase, whether to chase after the true murder or the shot caller.

Actually getting to those responsible in fact is just another set of worms and choices, as surprisingly players have quite a bit of personal choice as to what happens to the perpetrators. The story doesn’t just end with getting whatever justice the players choose, but are forced to face their actions from the past episodes and ultimately see how the community feels about how the justice should go as well. This adds another level of complexity that is both surprising and entirely welcome, as to whether the player’s choices as Bigby have really been for the best.

After the justice has been matted out, thankfully the story doesn’t just end and players are offered a look into how the Fabletown community has changed thanks to Bigby’s efforts or lack of effort. The epilogue covers just about every major character and where they fit into the community now, from Toad and his son, to Flycatcher, and Nerissa now that there has been some form of justice for the death of her friends. However, not every single aspect is wrapped up in a nice neat bow, so it is entirely possible that there is more to explore in the Fables universe, which would certainly be welcome.

Gameplay
Like the previous episodes the style of gameplay remains almost entirely the same, though there feels as if there is a lot more action in this Episode than previous ones. Much of the decisions are made through dialogue options as Bigby decides what to say to everyone, but the additional dynamic choices in combat or other action sequences is certainly a nice change of pace. Best yet, is that when dealing with how to finally deal with the big bad there isn’t a binary choice of how to handle it, instead having a much more complicated set of choices to make about what the punish is they should receive.

There is still the considerable lack of exploration, and as with Episode 4, there is a major lack of things to look at and explore. This can be a little understandable as the driving force of the episode was bringing the bad guys to justice, but even during the epilogue all Bigby really does is talk to the other Fables, but could have been a great opportunity to actually look around the Business Office and see what has changed with Snow getting put in charge or side conversations with lesser characters. While it is still a great ending, being part of an adventure game it would have been nice to get one last chance to just take a moment and experience the little details.

Visuals & Audio
While Episode 5 doesn’t have any new characters to show off, there are a few new character designs for some of the characters players have already met. The biggest one being of course Bigby’s true form, which after 5 episodes of lead up to is just as fantastic and over powered as anyone could hope from an 8 foot tall wolf. The other new character design is the fable-version of Bloody Mary who has now been a thorn in Bigby’s side for 3 episodes. The voice acting is still just as well executed as previous episodes and continue to impress with how well they work despite the choice of dialogue option and emotion situation. The voice acting is by far the one of the best aspects of The Wolf Among Us as a whole and the most consistent.

Overall
After 5 episodes of chasing down the murder of the two girls in the first episode, “Cry Wolf” provides a conclusion that fits the tone, style, and nature of the world of Fables, as well as gives plenty of options as to how justice should be met. While it still has a slight lacking in the exploration department, this episode has more action to help combat the small overuse of dialogue in the previous episode. With art and sound that stands up to the quality expected of a Telltale game, the conclusion of The Wolf Among Us gives almost everything one could hope for in an adventure game.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

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