No this isn’t an April Fool’s prank. Warner Bros. Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate Deluxe Edition is available now as a downloadable exclusive for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 from tomorrow. Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate was a handheld sequel to Batman: Arkham Origins. The deluxe edition features a revamped control system and visuals to provide a more rounded experience for console players.
Set a few months after Arkham Origins, Batman is called into Gotham’s infamous Blackgate Prison after the prisoners have rioted and taken over the facility. Batman will have to team up with the mysterious Catwoman to stop the Joker and the rest of his enemies from executing the staff of Blackgate. Arkham Origins Blackgate Deluxe Edition is available now on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC for $26.95 so check it out today. This is the first of many Batman-themed releases this year (because the man under the cape and cowl has turned 75 this week) so for all the Batman news as it becomes available, be sure to stay tuned to Capsule Computers.
Back at last year’s NYCC, Titan Comics announced Sally of the Wasteland from Victor Gischler (Kiss Me Satan!, The Punisher: Frank Castle, Wolverine) and rising star artist Tazio Bettin. Sally of the Wasteland is a grindhouse inspired action book set in a post apocalyptic world. Well now we’ve got some updates for you! Even after the fall of mankind you’ve still gotta laugh, and Sally does, often using her beloved shotgun, Bertha, as the punchline! Inspired more by lust than common sense, and by a teenage desire to protect Tommy, the object of her desires, Sally leaves her bar job and joins the deranged crew of the Mississippi Duchess on a mission into the remains of New Orleans. For a bit of a better look at the story, check out the cool (if cheesy) trailer below:
I’ve watched that video more than a couple of times and the narration gets me every time, but is also makes me super keen to pick up Sally of the Wasteland. If you aren’t sold on it just yet, then check out the book’s cover, and 1:10 variant cover below. Now only that but we have a few internal pages for you to check out. Sally of the Wasteland will be available on July 30th online and through comic book retailers everywhere so be sure to pick it up. As always, make sure you stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Titan Comics news as it becomes available.
Grab the popcorn, pull up a chair and get ready to rock as it is time for this week’s Disney Infinity Toy Box Challenge! The folks over at Disney are always working hard to bring the Disney Infinityfans a seemingly never-ending supply of brand new content in the form of new Toy Box Maps. There are five free maps for players this week, and if that wasn’t enough we also have the Toy Box Countdown, showcasing the last week’s winning entries, as well as some information about upcoming challenges and how you can be a part of it. So what are we waiting for!
TOY BOX COUNTDOWN
Today is April Fools, and that means that this week’s Toy Box Countdown is all about pranks! From cruel ways to laugh at your friends to devious obstacle courses, this week’s Toy Box Countdown has it all. check out
Touch The Light – Touch the light. Simple enough, right? Hint: Have patience and be observant in the spring room. Spring room? You’ll see!
Sulley’s Maze –It’s Prank Day at MU! Sulley has made a maze with a lot of pranks. Save 5 trapped students then prank Sulley back!
Prank 626 –Brave the twisted teleporters and find the 4 spray paint cans so that Stitch can finish his “artwork”.
Quest For Archie – Randall and the gang have pignapped Archie. Help Fear Tech rescue their mascot through the maze of awesomeness!
Gravity Falls –Something weird is happening in Gravity Falls… well, more weird than usual. Mysterious monsters have pranked the town.
Let’s take a bit of a closer look at these maps, as well as some tips and tricks for making your Toy Box the best it can be, with this week’s installment of Disney Infinity: Toy Box TV.
This week’s Toy Box Submission Challenge has been a long time coming. Time to reach into your wardrobe, call your fairy godmother and make sure your tiara is on straight for this week’s Princess Challenge! Will you make the ultimate kingdom, or recreate your favourite Disney Princess film? No matter what your take on the theme is, make sure you get your creations to Disney.
As always, you can create and share your Toy Box creations though, using these instructions:
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U
Bring up the Pause Menu and select “Online/Multiplayer.”
Then select “Toy Box Share” > “Disney’s Toy Boxes” > “Submit to Disney.”
Follow the prompts. You’ll be asked to give your Toy Box an original name and description. Choose carefully – they will be shown to everybody if your Toy Box is featured.
iPad
Bring up the Pause Menu and select “Toy Box Share.”
Then select “Disney’s Toy Boxes” > “Submit to Disney.”
Follow the prompts. You’ll be asked to give your Toy Box an original name and description. Choose carefully – they will be shown to everybody if your Toy Box is featured
That’s it for the latest issue of Disney Infinity Toy Box Challenge and the end of another week of Disney Infinity updates for you guys. Make sure you get creating and come up with the best Toy Box to fit this week’s theme to be in with a chance to have your masterpiece showcased around the world. Let us know your thoughts on this week’s winners in the comments below and remember to stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Disney Infinity news as it becomes available
Overview Exploring a dungeon and getting nailed by a trap that you didn’t see is a bane of any adventurer and can often eat away at a player’s limited supply of healing items. However what if you were the one actually placing these traps down and using them on your enemies? Well a certain game series called Deception focused entirely around this concept, but it has spent over ten years in the dark with only a spin-off hitting stores in the last decade. Now, fourteen years after the last game was released, has the wait for Deception IV: Blood Ties paid off?
Story In a bit of a twist to your standard fantasy tale, in Deception IV: Blood Ties players take control not of a hero trying to thwart off attackers or keep themselves safe, but of a villain. The main character in this game is Laegrinna, the daughter of the devil, and she is assisted by three daemons who used to work with her father but now are helping her complete their goal.
You see, when the devil was imprisoned thousands of years ago, twelve warriors were able to seal him away using Holy Verses. After so much time has passed, these verses have been separated into twelve different pieces and spread to their descendants. Through spreading rumors about a witch occupying an old castle, Laegrinna is able to lure potential heroes to their doom hoping to track down the holders of the verses and try to resurrect her father.
There isn’t a whole lot of set-up for the story in Deception IV: Blood Ties, as players are tossed into the story and given the brief introduction then and there. As they make their way through the story mode they will be introduced to a number of characters that are trying to put a stop to Laegrinna’s plans, a number of which actually appear even eviler than the devil himself.
It is also humorous to note that almost every opponent that Laegrinna has to face off against, from bosses to lost civilians, often have a humorous backstory of some sort that fits their brief intro and death dialogue.
Gameplay Now the Decepton series has never been a game about fighting head-on, instead it is all about laying traps for your opponents. This remains the case in Deception IV where players are able to choose three different traps of the floor, ceiling, and wall variety to bring with them into every stage and each of these traps have a different category that matches a daemon assisting Laegrinna.
Caelea is the daemon of elaborate torture and all elaborate traps are highlighted blue to match her theme, and the same can be said for the other two daemons, with Veruza being the sadistic torture daemon and Lilia being the daemon of humiliating torture. These daemons have various requests, seen as little side-challenges, that can be completed during a stage for a boost in a certain categories experience that allows for more traps to be unlocked.
Now speaking about the traps, players must defeat their enemies using the traps at their disposal by laying out complex traps in a room using a grid-based structure to plan everything out. There are a ridiculous amount of traps at your disposal, with many of the traps being rather ridiculous themselves, allowing for almost every kind of combination imaginable.
It is worth noting that while you lay out your traps and change their positions, the game is paused which is necessary considering the only to hit enemies with your traps is to lure them into position and activate the traps yourself. Now this might sound easy at first, it is far more complex than that appears since many of the enemies that try to kill Laegrinna have special abilities themselves. There are enemies that can be completely immune to certain types of weapons or are capable of long range attacking meaning they won’t be as easy to lure into your traps.
While learning what enemies are immune to what is fairly simple, it still will constantly keep the player on their toes as they come up with various trap combinations to unleash on their enemies. Players also can equip two skills to Laegrinna at any time, allowing her to dodge attacks, heal herself, gain the ability to use an extra trap, and many other things. It is worth noting that there is an “Auto-Dodge” skill that can be used to avoid all incoming danger, but this not only takes away from the tension of dealing with numerous deadly opponents at any given time but also cuts the amount of money, used to unlock more traps, skills, and costumes, earned in any mission in half.
Outside of the traps you already have at your disposal, there are four areas in the game that players will be transferred to as they progress in the game’s story mode. Each of these areas are split up into various rooms and each one contains extra environmental traps that can be worked into your own trap configurations to create a sequence of events so diabolic or sinister that you might almost feel bad about the things you are doing to these people. Almost.
Outside of the game’s story mode there are additional modes as well, such as free battle which allows players to choose what enemies they want to face off against in what arena, allowing players to master their traps, a necessity considering how some traps are very finicky with the way they work. Some traps can only hit enemies standing or have a very small hit radius, meaning a small delay or deviation in an enemy’s flight path can mean a trap could miss and ruin an intricately designed work of destructive art.
There are also various challenge missions that give the player set goals to accomplish within a time limit which adds some replayability but feels constrictive considering how open everything else in the game feels. Finally there is a creation mode that allows players to create their own objectives and select various enemies to face off against and place their creation online, allowing others to play it and along those same lines players can download other user created missions.
Visuals & Audio Now it is worth noting that Deception IV: Blood Ties is not an extravagant looking game by any means, but it does have it where it counts. The traps at the player’s disposal are varied greatly and they all look great while each area is teeming with little secrets to find and throw your attackers into. That being said, while the appearances of the enemies attacking you is varied well enough you will quickly begin to run into enemies that look similar to one another, though something can certainly be said about the neat armor breaking feature.
The story in Deception IV: Blood Ties is told in a bit of a visual novel style set-up with Laegrinna and the daemons having their own character portraits and special NPCs having detailed portraits as well. These character portraits are nice looking but don’t have much in the way of variety, especially Laegrinna, meaning that a lot of the dialogue sequences consist of the same portraits every time.
Now it is worth noting that Tecmo Koei chose not to provide an English voice track for Deception IV: Blood Ties which means that the entire game is spoken in Japanese with English subtitles, but that works great for a game such as this where the Japanese voice actors do their jobs just fine and trying to create a suitable English dub for a game with such an odd premise probably would have sounded awful. It also helps that the voice acting for the three daemons, which do most of the talking in the game, fits their personalities perfectly.
Overall Deception IV: Blood Ties is the type of game you don’t see much anymore and that is a real shame because it is so different than most of what is out on the market today. The story and premise that places players into the game is satisfying and the game itself is nicely polished with a wide arrange of traps to use and tons of things to unlock, though it can be frustrating at times when things go wrong. Deception IV: Blood Ties makes a successful return after such a long time in the shadows and definitely deserves some time in the spotlight.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
NIS America has released a new trailer as well as a handful of new English screenshots for Demon Gaze. The screenshots show some of the boss enemies that players will encounter while traveling through dungeons and the trailer gives a brief overview of a number of the features that are available in the title.
You can check out the video and the screenshots below and as for the game itself, Demon Gaze is set to be released on the PlayStation Vita on April 22nd in North America and a few days later in Europe on April 25th.
In ZOMBIE STAMPEDE players are immersed in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by a devastating virus. Facing waves after waves of flesh-eating zombies through intense action sequences, the game proposes users to take control of a team of ferocious hunters with a variety of unique combat abilities and destructive weapons.
Beyond the action, the game offers a powerful cocktail of strategy and collectability with multiple in-game commodities such as the Card Box filled with common and rare hunters and items to be added to one’s game. Players also have to be tactical in their use of the precious ‘Zombie Juice’ collected from slaughtered zombies on the battlefield and that helps unleash hunter skills.
ZOMBIE STAMPEDE is available for free from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch or at http://www.AppStore.com. Available in the US, Japan, UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.
That’s right folks, Wargaming has revealed its plans to introduce flying saucers into the MMO flight combat of World of Warplanes.
Starting April 1st, the Tier 5 German Kampfflugplatte Sleipnir I UFO will be available to all players registered in World of Warplanes for the low, low price of free. Along with the aircraft itself, pilots will also be able to earn the “Sleipnir Rider” and “Wrath of Odin” medals for their time spent testing this bizarre new way to fly.
Before it receives a true release, the testing period will serve to estimate the gameplay potential of the flying saucer. Should feedback be positive enough, each country represented in WoWp will receive their own branch of alien ships. So jump into the unfamiliar pilot’s seat and prove to the World of Warplanes that there’s a place for UFOs somewhere in that vast and violent sky.
Expanding the suite of digital entertainment services on PS3, coming soon to PS4
Sydney, 1st April, 2014 – Sony Computer Entertainment Australia (SCE Aust.) is pleased to welcome Foxtel Play to its entertainment service portfolio. Today marks the launch of Foxtel Play for PlayStation®3 (PS3™) owners, with the service coming soon to the PlayStation®4 (PS4™) system, Australia’s number one next generation home console1.
Just in time for the 7 April Game of Thrones Season 4* premiere on showcase, the addition of Foxtel Play to the PS3 entertainment service offering means that the 2 million Australians that own a PS32 can use their console to subscribe to Foxtel Play’s great line up of programming. Owners can download the Foxtel Play app using a PlayStation®Network (PSN) account.
“Whether it’s music, TV, movies or games, PlayStation fans love all forms of digital entertainment and we remain committed to delivering the most immersive digital entertainment experiences on our platforms through PlayStation Network,” said Michael Ephraim, Managing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Australia. “Foxtel Play is a fantastic addition to our suite of entertainment services, one that all the family can enjoy.”
Rohan Lund, Foxtel’s Chief Operating Officer, said, “We’re thrilled to continue our drive to expand availability of Foxtel Play for Australian subscribers. With the addition of PS3, that expansion just got a massive boost for the 2 million Australians already enjoying great digital experiences on their PlayStation 3 consoles. Today that experience gets even better.”
Foxtel Play on PS3 also comes as Foxtel begins its drive to increase the number of Complete Seasons available, on-demand, to subscribers. Foxtel has upped its offering to a record 13 Complete Seasons from 11 programs, which means access to an even bigger library of Complete Seasons from popular shows including seasons two and three of fantasy series Game of Thrones and seasons one and two of comedy series Veep available on showcase; season one of critically acclaimed prison drama Wentworth available on SoHo; and season one of Coast Australia available on History.
ENDS
1 Cumulative next generation unit sales from November launch up to week ending 23rd March 2014; The NPD Group Australia
2 Total PS3 console sales to date including retail and business-to-business channels
Overview The Ninja Gaiden series is one that many gamers are familiar with and while Tecmo Koei and Team Ninja have had a few bumps in the road with the series in recent years, it is one highly regarded by fans. However what if the focus was taken off of Hayabusa and instead placed on a different type of ninja altogether. Well you would have a game called Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z. Coming from the minds of three different developers, is Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z worth picking up?
Story As mentioned, players do not follow the story of Ryu Hayabusa but a different character called Yaiba Kamikaze, a foul-mouthed powerful ninja that has no qualms about slaying anyone who crosses his path, even members of his own clan if he feels like it. One day he encounters Ryu Hayabusa and because Yaiba is wielding a powerful weapon, Ryu wants to take it from him.
Despite being skilled and confident, Yaiba ends up on the receiving end of Ryu’s sword, losing an arm and a decent chunk of his torso and head in the process. Luckily for this loud and angry ninja, this death is merely a temporary setback as a mysterious organization has decided to bring him back to life with cybernetic implants to replace his missing pieces. After being fully revived this organization has sent Yaiba out on a mission to put a stop to a zombie outbreak and luckily for Yaiba, the target of his vengeance, Ryu Hayabusa, happens to be in the area at the same time.
Anyone who has been paying attention to the various trailers released for the game up until now probably know the type of tone to expect when playing Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z. While the story may sound a bit serious, it is presented in its entirety as a comedic over the top story filled with plenty of crude humor and randomness that games from many years ago once utilized. Some may find the humor in Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z to not be up their alley as it can be a bit childish at times. Those who choose to roll with the game’s blend of crude silly humor and violence will be in for an often humorous, albeit somewhat short, experience.
Gameplay
Now while Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z may share the same name sake as a game with some technical aspects to it, this game is far from it. This game is set up as an arena fighting game where players will travel on a linear path, one that occasionally has a side-street or an environmental object that can be interacted with that reveals a collectible, and fight enemies as the game choose to throw them at you in waves.
Yaiba has three basic weapons at his disposal, all of which fall into a certain attack category. He can attack using his sword, punch enemies with his cybernetic fist, or attack enemies with a flail weapon. These weapons break down to light attack, heavy attack, and crowd control and although enemies can simply be slain by dealing enough damage to them, it is possible to perform brutal and often humorous executions on nearly defeated enemies, which cause said enemies to drop health.
Along the way players will come across stronger special zombies such as a brawler, an electrically charged bride, or something else and not only do these special zombies add a bit of a challenge since they can take and deal out large amounts of damage, but if the player chooses to execute these strong zombies they can take their weapon from them. These weapons are all temporary but add a nice little strength boost while they are available, making them useful tools against other stronger foes.
As you slay your way through the various arenas in Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, players will occasionally level up and unlock a special skill from a skill tree, such as increasing durability of special weapons, unlocking new combos or something else. Unfortunately these various level up bonuses are rather mundane and players can generally just choose to do whatever they like there.
With the aforementioned special zombies, there are some various elements that come into play in the form of fire, electricity and bile. Each of these elements can be used on Yaiba and can also be countered, making some fights a bit more strategic. However outside of that elemental system, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z really feels like a game players can simply button mash their way through most of the time as enemies will fall before Yaiba’s onslaught one way or another and only occasionally will players have to actually plan their fights carefully.
Visuals Now it is pretty clear from the beginning of the game that Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z is going for the comic book presentation. Everything in the game is designed with a cel-shaded style appearance and outside of some of the stages you play in, everything is brightly colored. This is probably in the game’s favor in some ways as the aesthetic of the game allows for some of the more humorous moments in the title such as the zombie introductions.
There are some downsides to this design style though, as the game can look incredibly messy at times. When there are a number of enemies on the screen things tend to blur together into a whirlwind of blood and flying undead. It also doesn’t help that while the art style works most of the time, on some characters it looks out a bit out of place or simply poorly handled.
Audio I do have to commend the way that Yaiba is presented to the audience. I have a feeling that if he was not voiced correctly that the majority of the game’s humor would have turned out to be terrible rather than just corny and mostly humorous. Yaiba’s personality is presented well thanks to how he is portrayed by the voice actor, though there are moments where it sounds like he was yelling a bit too loud into the mic causing some minor distortion.
As for the game’s soundtrack, it is a fairly standard fair with a mix of memorable tracks that work well for some of the game’s key battles but it is largely forgettable and blends into the background. This is partially due to the fact that despite sounding great the first few times, many of the tracks, despite being different, sound incredibly similar to one another.
Overall Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z feels like it doesn’t really excel anywhere, but anywhere that it does fall short is made up for with the humor and the way everything in the game is presented. I have a feeling that the comedy found in this game is going to be very subjective for some, but those who enjoy its style will be able to enjoy the basic hack and slash game that Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z ended up being.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
GAMEVIL launches social casino game Party Slots on Google Play
LOS ANGELES, CA- March 31, 2014- Leading mobile game publisher and developer GAMEVIL today announced the launch of Party Slots, GAMEVIL’s second social casino of the year.
Party Slots is a casino game that turns the slot machine experience into a social experience. Featuring a social mechanic that has encourages playing together, players in a party will contribute to a single jackpot at a chance for greater rewards.
“There is a lot of enthusiasm for the social game market right now,” stated Kyu Lee, President of GAMEVIL USA. “So we’re delivering on content that players are asking for. It’s a strategic area of growth, and Party Slots offers a level of engagement that can’t be beat.”
GAMEVIL®, with over 350 million game downloads and experience publishing hundreds of games on multiple platforms, is one of the most active and innovative mobile game companies in the world. Established in 2000 and with offices in Los Angeles, Tokyo, Beijing and Seoul, GAMEVIL is an experienced global mobile game publisher working with more than 70 top studios around the world.
With deep industry and regional knowledge, GAMEVIL has been able to craft numerous award winners through a diverse portfolio of games. Backed by unparalleled expertise in mobile, GAMEVIL continues to lead the sector with a commitment in establishing mobile gaming as a way of life.
GAMEVIL is currently listed on the KOSDAQ Market (Ticker: 063080, Bloomberg: 063080:KS, Reuters: 063080.KQ)
