ICEBERG INTERACTIVE CELEBRATES FIVE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY WITH BIGGEST LINE-UP EVER
Independently Financed Publisher Conquers Space as a Winning Business Strategy
Haarlem, The Netherlands – May 21, 2014 – During the past five years and through one of the toughest periods in recent economic history, Iceberg Interactive has strived to become a major force in PC game publishing by striking a rich vein of gold in the dark reaches of space and fantasy. By concentrating on a small number of niche genres that continue to grow in popularity including space and fantasy worlds, 4X, strategy, and simulation, Iceberg Interactive is celebrating its fifth year of growth with its biggest, most impressive line-up to date.
Headlining the five-game 2014 roster is Amplitude Studios’ fantasy-based 4X game Endless Legend, the 4X space strategy title StarDrive 2, the space sim Starpoint Gemini 2, the 4X space strategy title Lords of the Black Sun, and the arcade combat flight game, Vector Thrust, the majority of which are currently in Steam’s Early Access program.
Since its inception in 2009, Iceberg Interactive has carved out a unique niche as a resilient, resourceful, and fleet-footed indie publisher. By taking risks with rookie developers, managing its costs wisely, and investing in genres that big publishers have left for dead, Iceberg has positioned itself as a leader in the 4X, sci-fi, and strategy genres.
“Iceberg’s progress to date stems from the fact that we are all gamers, and we like to play the games we publish – this gives us a certain affinity with our customers – we are all about games, and it reflects in the deep, rich games we publish,” says Erik Schreuder, CEO of Iceberg Interactive. “The demand for strategy, 4X, and space games never stops. It’s just that most of the larger publishers feel that, because these games aren’t multi-million unit sellers, they are not commercially viable. This is where we see our opportunity. PC gamers are a very vocal lot, and have responded in kind by letting us know how much they love our games and consistently ask us to keep them coming.”
Among the 70-plus titles published and distributed since 2009, Iceberg has created a name for itself with standout titles Killing Floor, Wings of Prey, Armada 2526, Starpoint Gemini, APB Reloaded and Dark Fall: Lost Souls. More recent hits include Horizon, Gas Guzzlers Extreme, Endless Space, and StarDrive.
Erik Schreuder is available for interviews to reveal how Iceberg’s strategies and approaches to the indie PC market, its knowledge of Steam, and its passionate embrace of the 4X strategy genre, have buoyed the company and carved out a reliable niche for growth. For interviews or more information, please contact Douglass C. Perry via email at [email protected] or by phone at (209) 586-1495 x105.
ABOUT ICEBERG INTERACTIVE Iceberg Interactive is an independent video game publisher founded in 2009 by an international group of games industry veterans and is located in Haarlem, The Netherlands. While keeping its roots in the European retail games market, Iceberg has rapidly increased its focus towards the global digital games market, by building strong direct relationships with dozens of Game Portals. Staffed with avid gamers, Iceberg works closely with an international assembly of game developers, both midsize and indie. With a distinct focus on the strategy, action, simulation and adventure game genres, the company has garnered attention with acclaimed releases including Killing Floor, Wings of Prey, APB Reloaded and Endless Space among its 70+ game arsenal – with more promising games in the pipeline.
Professional Farmer 2014, developed by Playwar S.A. and published by United Independent Entertainment GmbH, is a game firmly in the vein of the ‘European Simulator’ style of the simulation genre. This means that in these kinds of games the developers aimed to create as much of direct replication of the experience of a particular profession, with less focus on the ludological aspects of game design (the ‘gamey’ parts of a game). These types of games are especially intriguing to those with an interest in game design as, when done well, they provide a strong example of how pretty much any aspect of life can be made fun through minimalistic but efficient application of game mechanics. I imagined the game as a bit like a more hardcore version of the Harvest Moon series, and with this in mind I doffed my cap and pulled on boots to trudge with an open mind into the open fields of the latest iteration of the Professional Farmer series.
Story
This game’s narrative is the soul of brevity. You are a farmer trying to eke out a living in either the American or French countryside. That is it. Nothing more nothing less. This is a simulator of farming and you should expect nothing more or less. Following the mediocre tutorial at the start of career mode,which didn’t teach me about such things as how the heck I’m meant to use the manure that my animals produce (my farmstead is literally being overrun with bull$%^&), you’re thrust directly into the brunt of the gameplay: farming.
This is an area in which I found the game to be sorely lacking. The lack of an overarching narrative in game never bothered me before and I’m fine with drawing my magic circle around any game that I play (to seperate the world of the game entirely from the reality I occupy), but the world of Pro Farmer feels completely static and immobile. There are no rivals to compete against, no random occurrences which might force the player to make decisions, or even any obstacles for the player to overcome beyond a bank loan and the occasional pest invading your fields.
Gameplay
As mentioned above, you play this game as the eponymous farmer. You start with a farmstead with cows, chickens, and a couple of fields. The gameplay of Pro Farmer largely focuses on the business of farming (surprise, surprise). The farming tools are all mechanised, so most farming activities like plowing and planting require you to get into your tractor, attach various farm implements, and then drive across a field. This is largely what the game boils down to: driving over a field repeatedly. Most of the time, this is brain-numbingly boring with little player input and at others it is just plain annoying as your vehicle can list to one side or the other if the field is on the side of hill. Nothing annoys my obsessive-compulsive desires more than having my attempts to plow in nice, straight lines repeatedly foiled because my tractor keeps sliding down the hillside. I originally assumed that this listing might have been resistance which was caused by the plow, but having obtained a field on flat terrain and testing out this hypothesis; I have discovered that this is not the case.
Outside of caring for these fields, there doesn’t appear to be all that much that you can actively do in the game. You can buy animals such as hens and cows which produce eggs, milk, and the aforementioned manure. This all done automatically, however, without any input from the player other than deciding when to buy and sell individual animals. This does provide some small level of management alongside buying other essentials such as seed, fertilizer, and fuel but ultimately there isn’t all that much that you can exert yourself in.
Ultimately, the game only allows you to work the fields as the only activity where you can actually have some manner of greater control and exert effort. I resigned myself to this notion and after slaving away for a whole game year and stockpiling my harvests, I was dismayed to find that my work earned me a pittance. Perhaps this was meant to be thoughtful commentary on the state of affairs for modern day farmers or I might just be a terrible business man. All I know for certain is that in two hours of gameplay and working 3 fields, I had earned about 10 000 euros. This figure did not include the money I would have spent on seed, fuel, and fertilizer, and would not have put much of a dent into the sizeable 250 000 euro loan which I was working to pay off. I would liken this experience to paying off the loan to Tom Nook in Animal Crossing but with less cartoon animal loan skarks and more spreadsheets.
There is DLC in the platinum edition which includes the opportunity to ride around on older tractors from the history of farming, with models from the turn of the century. These vehicles are accurate to their real-world counterpart and are much slower than your default vehicle, so I doubt many players would actually use them as anything other than historical ornaments. There is also an American map added in, which other than visual differences, does not play all that differently from what I’ve seen of the standard French map.
Visuals
The graphics in this game are nothing to write home about. The interior of each vehicle has been lovingly recreated for each vehicle and can be seen in the first-person view, but it is not practical for the player to play the game from this view for too long and so you’ll probably end up using your camera in a third-person view. Trees, shrubs, and crops are rendered with 2 or more intersecting, 2D images. I found this to be an unusual choice for the game as this produces an effect which is nice at a distance but ugly up close. I imagine that rendering each individual stalk of wheat would have been taxing on most systems, so I understand why the developers made this decision. There are still some nice visuals to be experience such as the waves of gold of fully grown wheat, as long as you don’t zoom in too close to the field. Textures for buildings and people were similarly roughshod with my farmstead clearly being located somewhere in the uncanny valley region of France.
Audio
The game’s sound design is largely mediocre. The sound effects for all the farm vehicles are all present and working. The music does get a bit annoying due to the limited soundtrack and the somewhat uninspired score which sounded like it was lifted off of the Sims 2. For some reason, the music turns itself off when you leave your vehicle which I guess might be a subtle way of telling the player that this game is played from the behind the wheel of a virtual tractor… or possibly a glitch. What disturbed me was the lack of sound emanating from the farmyard animals when I was near their pens and cages. Occasionally I’d hear a cluck or a moo but from my experience on farms I know that animals are not normally this quiet. I rationalized this phenomenon as the outcome of years of behavioural conditioning which causes the animals to become silent with fear whenever I approached.
Overall
Ultimately, the game design is what irked me the most in this title as I was so limited in input into the game world. There is so little to do and so little variance in the actions that you do have available, which ultimately made this game feel more like a chore and less like a retreat into pastoral bliss. There is so much more which could have been added to this game to increase player interactivity. The easiest way I could think of off the top of my head is to give players more choices in shaping their farm. For example; players could be given the choice about whether or not practice factory farming with their livestock, or whether to use genetically modified crops in their fields. These are both controversial topics, to be certain, but they are choices which are made by actual farmers in the real world, today. By giving players choices such as these, they could have made a more accurate simulation and also can give players a sense of agency which, unfortunately, this game is sorely lacking.
I admit that the simplicity and the grind can probably appeal to some players and from what I’ve read, micromanaging the small details which the game does give you can apparently turn out to be quite profitable but considering there is so little that you can actually spend this money on, I doubt I would feel much accomplishment or joy. There is still some small fun to be had in this grind which I experienced when I harvested my fields of grain the first time, but there isn’t all that much which can actually hold my attention to get me to play long enough to capitalise on this investment. This title runs smoothly and does have some nice visuals to experience here and there but ultimately, the devs need to put more effort into the game design itself as right now Professional Farmer 2014 is more simulation than game.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 6.1 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
Description
Solve the mystery behind the suspicious death of Jeremy Hartwood! Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, Alone in the Dark® was originally released for PC in 1992. This action-adventure horror 3D game was the first of its kind inspiring future franchises in the Survival Horror genre.
SURVIVE
Complete challenges and puzzles deep within the lugubrious Hartwood mansion to make it out alive.
CONTROLS
Choose to play as the private detective, Edward Cornby, or Jeremy’s niece, Emily Hartwood, with new controls fitted for your mobile device.
The match-three genre is without a doubt one of the most popular on the mobile platform, and Disney have not shyed away from the party. First with Frozen and now Maleficent is joining in on the action to celebrate her new movie. Maleficent Free Fall takes all of the fun and excitement of the match-three puzzle genre with some unique and magical twists and turns that make it a completely unique experience, and best of all it is free!
Key features of Maleficent Free Fall include:
Switch and slide the board of enchanted gemstones to create matches of 3 or more while triggering cascading combos and conquering objectives
Discover mysterious surprises throughout the journey, like unlocking Maleficent’s raven, Diaval
Use unique power-ups like Maleficent’s staff or her powerful wings
You can grab Maleficent Free Fall now through the App Store, Google Play, Windows Phone and Windows Store so hit download and weave your magic. Remember that Maleficent will be casting her wicked spell on theaters next week, May 29th so make sure you stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Maleficent news as it becomes available.
If you have been waiting to pick up NIS America‘s Mugen Souls Z then you will be happy to know that you can now do so as the title is now available both at retailers and from the PlayStation Store in North America. As for gamers in Europe, you still have a few days to wait as the game will be released in your region on May 23rd.
You can find our full review of Mugen Souls Z herebut for a brief summary; Mugen Souls Z follows the story of Chou-Chou after the first game where she ends up losing all of her abilities due to Syrma’s coffin and now she must team up with Syrma to put a stop to an ancient threat and try to get her powers back.
You may remember a certain shojo series called Millennium Snow as it started being released in North America back in 2007. Unfortunately at that time only the first two volumes were released in North America because the author, Bisco Hatori, had stopped working on the series for a decade before picking it back up and producing the final two volumes for the series. The story of Millennium Snow follows the romance between an ailing teenage girl and a handsome young vampire.
As such now that those two volumes have been released in Japan Viz Media is working on bringing those volumes over to English and the third volume of Millennium Snow will be released in a couple of weeks on June 3rd. This third volume is going to be printed under the Shojo Beat label and will be priced at $9.99. Also since such a long time has passed since the first two volumes were released and they are likely out of print and difficult to find, Viz is also releasing a 2-in-1 omnibus version of the first two volumes on June 3rd. This release will be priced at $14.99 and is also being handled by the Shojo Beat label.
Overview For quite some time now a certain series of novels have been used to create various adaptations which is fitting considering the Nansō Satomi Hakkenden series spanned over a hundred novels back when it was released in the 1800s. Featuring eight samurai warriors that were part human and part dog, the series is rather unique and the latest variation of the material, Fusé: Memoirs of a Huntress, takes and spins the story in its own way. However does that make this movie worth purchasing?
Story The young Hamaji Ooyama has spent her fourteen year life growing up in the mountains with her grandfather. Because of this lifestyle she has grown to be a skilled huntress capable of wielding a special multi-shot rifle with deadly accuracy. Unfortunately for Hamaji her life has grown lonely and empty since her grandfather passed away a year prior and now even when she kills an animal for food, she cannot share her prize with anyone.
When a letter arrives from her brother Dousetsu who moved to Edo to try and become a samurai, she travels to Edo to begin living with him. When she arrives she finds that Edo is in a state of unrest due to eight human-dog hybrids called Fusé that appeared in the city and began killing people left and right. Because of this the shogun of Edo has issued an edict that all Fusé be eliminated and that anyone who is capable of slaying one of these creatures be rewarded with a small fortune and great standing.
Initially disgusted at the way the already six slain Fusé are displayed out in the open, Hamaji agrees to help her brother in the Fusé hunt because despite him spending years in Edo and making some close friends, he is far from his goal of becoming a honored samurai and lives in a small shack. This is problematic however as Hamaji already ran into one of the two remaining Fusé when she arrived in Edo. While this Fusé made use of her weapon to avoid his attackers, Shino as he is called, treated her fairly and even helped her out when she was lost.
Despite his generosity towards Hamaji, which includes a few small meetings between the two that can be described as touching, it is clear to see why the people wish to kill Shino as he is regularly slaying anyone who dares come across him and eats their souls. This isn’t a simple story of who is right and wrong however as Shino’s race is nearing extinction the Shogun’s own order is clouded by fear and isolation.
Over the course of this roughly two hour movie we see Hamaji go from a huntress in the wilderness to meeting her first love who also ends up becoming her prey, even if that infatuation seems to spring from nowhere. Along the way we are introduced to colorful cast of side-characters, an interesting play involving the history of how the Fusé might have come about, and even the author of the Hakkenden series is used in the movie sparingly.
With a number of action pieces set throughout the movie and a decent story with a few touching moments, Fusé: Memoirs of a Huntress wraps things up nicely by the end, especially in regards to Dousetsu as we get to see just how his life has changed since Hamaji arrived in Edo. That being said, there are a number of oddities that appear throughout the movie that never are explained such as the Fusé’s need for souls as well as the events that take place in the shogun’s castle as these are simply glossed over as being part of the shows fantasy theme.
Visuals & Audio
Fusé: Memoirs of a Huntress is a gorgeous looking film thanks to the beautiful use of colors and wonderful looking backgrounds used throughout the movie that really shine thanks to the Blu-ray release. There are a number of areas visited in Edo that could easily have been passed off as simplistic given the era the movie is set, however many buildings are highly detailed with unique designs which give the movie an appealing look.
This is necessary considering the design of the characters ranges all the way from impressive to terrible looking. The main cast of Hamaji and Shino, including Shino’s transformations, are handled nicely with a decent level of detail however a few of the action sequences drop in quality about halfway through which is disappointing and the side-characters are designed with strange facial structures, bland clothing, and drab coloration.
I must note that Fusé: Memoirs of a Huntress is a sub-only release but this isn’t an issue as there are a surprising number of veteran Japanese voice actors providing the voice work for many of the characters in the series. It will be hard for a viewer not to pick up on Dousetsu’s voice actor since he has been in numerous series over the years while Shino’s and Hamaji’s voice actors are equally skilled.
Extras With the release of Fusé: Memoirs of a Huntress we have the premium edition style treatment the company is known for. While the on disc extras are only TV spots for the movie as well as trailers for other NIS America anime the release also comes with an oversized chipboard slipcase that features artwork on both sides, one featuring art similar to the anime and another featuring a darker more stylistic piece of art.
The release also comes with an art book that contains character information as well as sketches and designs for each of the main characters in the movie, numerous pages showing off artwork, both storyboard and fully colored, of the various areas and backdrops found throughout the movie. This is then followed by an interview with the director Masayuki Miyaji, additional character art, and finally a few pages featuring full color artwork.
Overall Fusé: Memoirs of a Huntress tells a story that many of us probably have seen in some form before but puts a bit of a swing on things by having it take place in such a setting based loosely on the Hakkenden series. There are issues with the movie in regards to the character art as well as Hamaji’s bond with Shino, but it is still a fairly enjoyable film with a number of standout segments, especially near the end, though it isn’t something that will stick with you for long after the credits play.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Overview Making a game too simplistic to play through can be regarded as boring while making too many complex systems will either leave gamers avoiding most of these systems or stuck in confusion as they muddle through the title. Mugen Souls was a game that had a number of systems that could confuse gamers and although it took some time to grasp these mechanics fully, even then they seemed to be problematic at times. As such when Mugen Souls Z was announced, it was a bit of a surprise that NIS America jumped on this sequel for release in the West. Well… now that Mugen Souls Z has been released has it improved over its predecessor?
Story For those who are unfamiliar with the first game, the “Undisputed Goddess of the Universe” Chou-Chou had set out to conquer seven worlds and make them and everyone on them her peons. As one would imagine, she manages to do so and now after her victory over those seven worlds, she is now looking at twelve new worlds to conquer. Unfortunately for Chou-Chou, her confidence ends up leading to her downfall.
After spreading out her allies from the first game, who are collected later as part of the game’s story, Chou-Chou arrives on the first planet only to stumble upon a hero named Nao who has just woken up the Ultimate God Syrma from a strange coffin. After dealing with the situation, Chou-Chou looks at this coffin only to stumble into it and get locked inside. Once she is stuck in the coffin, pink goo fills it and saps away all of her powers and although she manages to escape, she Chou-Chou is now practically powerless and to make matters worse she is now a chibi version of her already small self.
Lacking her powers, Chou-Chou joins with Syrma in an effort to continue her goal as Syrma’s abilities are tied to the same goals that Chou-Chou has and if Syrma manages to get her powers back, then maybe Chou-Chou’s will return as well. As such the pair venture off on a journey to conquer a new set of worlds in what is an incredibly strange storyline with an infectious set of humor.
The basic story of Mugen Souls Z is really basic seeming at times and takes a while to really get going but this is made up for by the cast of characters players gather over the course of the game. Fans who liked the characters from the first game will be delighted to hear that they will be returning with the same personalities as before and the new characters are also quite a treat, especially Nao as she regularly plays the straight man, or woman I suppose, to the groups outlandish and strange behavior making her a nice sounding board for the player’s thoughts at times.
Gameplay In many ways, Mugen Souls Z is nearly the exact same as what gamers found in the original Mugen Souls. Players are tasked with traveling between planets and trying to conquer them by triggering events and finding specific points on each planet and meeting a certain goal that can be anything from gathering items or defeating enemies to making them become your peon by using the game’s Captivate system. To do this players will be spending a large amount of time in combat which is still a bit confusing for newcomers, but better explained this time through so it may not be as intimidating to potential players.
Combat is a turn based affair and is triggered when the player encounters an enemy on the field either by running into them or attacking them to gain the advantage at the start of the battle. The combat in the game has been refined but mostly in regards to the side bits as the basics are still the same. The player’s four character party can move around the field and attack enemies with various attacks and skills that can be linked up to create over the top attacks that only a game like Mugen Souls Z could pull off.
Blasting enemies around the field returns and is beneficial at times, albeit still a bit complex Players can create outrageously high damage outputs thanks to the damage carnival mechanic and earn an increased reward from combat, and the Captivate System also plays a big role. Returning players will recognize that this system has been refined the most as it is now easier to actually tell what an enemy may like or dislike and matching these fetishes is easier as players can change Syrma’s personality type during her turn without a penalty.
As such performing the various moé poses and phrases is easier than before as players can see how an enemy will react before performing a set of poses and nicer looking as well. Successfully captivating an enemy will make them your Peon which increases the power of your castle as well as Syrma’s special Ultimate Soul attack.
Outside of combat players will also have to deal with the G-Castle fights that have also been modified compared to the prior game to be a bit more complex which is for the best in this regard as they were way too easy in the first game. These fights can still be rather easily handled if the player predicts how the enemy ship will react and choose their action accordingly but it is actually a bit challenging this time around.
Grinding for experience points in the Mugen Field, enhancing equipment, and creating new peons from scratch also return and are pretty much the same as before though the Mugen Field has been tweaked a bit to allow players to use checkpoints to leave and return. That being said, a large amount of the game still requires quite a bit of grinding which fans of the genre have probably come to expect at this point as Mugen Souls Z can be played for quite a long period of time as the player explores everything the title has to offer.
Visuals Mugen Souls Z remains similar to its predecessor as far as art style is concerned but it has been given a few enhancements here and there as the field exploration with Syrma is a bit more detailed than what was presented previously. In fact most of the character models have a bit more shading to them this time around which is for the best as it adds a little extra detail to their chibi style forms.
That being said everything else is still as colorful and over the top as ever with linked attack animations ranging from hilarious to ridiculous. The game sports some nice looking character portraits that fit well with the game’s anime aesthetics and have a number of varied poses to react to the story’s oft ridiculous situations.
Audio As with the first game in the series, Mugen Souls Z comes with both the English voice track provided by NIS America as well as the Japanese voice track. The English voice actors and actresses have reprised their roles in the game and the new characters are voiced suitably enough as Syrma’s various personalities are also given the same treatment Chou-Chou’s were in the first, with the character’s tone changing to match her personality type.
The game’s background music is fitting considering the type of game that Mugen Souls Z is as it is full of upbeat sounding pop music as well as enjoyable some rather enjoyable combat music, which is a plus considering how much time the player will spend fighting enemies.
Overall
Mugen Souls Z is pretty much everything a fan of the first game would expect as it continues Chou-Chou’s ridiculous and oft hilarious journey to try and conquer the universe while also introducing a new set of likable characters. The combat system has been refined a bit to be more approachable to newcomers and change things up a bit for players returning for to continue the series in this improved sequel.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
After the amount of futuristic titles and modern day titles killing some Nazis feels almost refreshing and if you happen to feel that way too then now you can scratch that itch. Today Bethesda‘s Wolfenstein: The New Order has been released worldwide for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC.
Wolfenstein: The New Order takes place in an alternate version of the 1960s where the Nazis were able to win World War II with mysterious advanced technology and now B.J. Blazkowicz and the rest of the small resistance group must travel across Europe to try and bring down the Nazi war machine once and for all. A launch trailer for the game was released last week and can be found here.
Today Drakengard 3 was released in North America and as such Square Enix has released a third interview with a member of the game’s development team and this time it is with the man himself, director Taro Yoko. Well, at least his voice does because he speaks using a puppet as he very rarely shows his face in front of the cameras.
Anyways, the interview is over eight minutes long and in it Taro Yoko discusses the limitations of games and how even though he started the series ten years ago, people are still always trying to one up one another or come out ahead of someone else and how many titles relish in the thought of killing hundreds of people. Check out the full interview below.
You may remember a certain shojo series called 
