JOIN THE ULTIMATE COMPETITION IN THE FINAL OPEN HOUSE FOR THE MIGHTY QUEST FOR EPIC LOOT
San Francisco, California – January 23, 2014 – Ubisoft® announced the final Open House event for The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot kicks off today. Starting now and running until January 27, anyone can join in the quest to loot, slash and hack their way to fame and fortune in Opulencia. The final Open House will allow anyone who signs up the ability to play while The Mighty Quest in Epic Loot is still in closed beta.
Don’t just play, pick a side. This final Open House will determine which of characters is most beloved in Opulencia. For the first time and for the duration of the event, The Mage is playable for free, levelling the playing field and letting players pick which one character can loot them all. Help us end the bickering between the three and vote with your choice of character.
Throughout the Open House there will be a tally of points earned by each hero that will be regularly updated through the game’s Facebook page. Points will be awarded or deducted by select criteria including number of castles looted vs number of castles failed and given for gold and life force looted. You can find more information on contest specifics here: https://www.themightyquest.com/en/blog/open-house-may-the-final-showdown-start.
It’s a vicious battle for popularity, ego and gold that can only be decided by the players in Opulencia. Players can sign up or sign in with their existing Uplay account at www.themightyquest.com and will be granted immediate access during the event.
About The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot
Developed by Ubisoft Montréal, The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot is a multiplayer action game where players attempt to create impregnable castles to protect their treasure hoard while simultaneously attempting to ransack other players’ castles.
Gamers can play as three characters, the boastful Knight, Sir Painhammer, the enigmatic Archer, Blackeye Bogart, or the Mage, a.k.a The Earl of Evilosity. In the near future players will also have access to The Runaway, the latest character to join the quest. Wielding a bad ass axe and lightning speed, she’ll be a formidable foe for castle defenses.
About Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a leading creator, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and services, with a rich portfolio of world-renowned brands, including Assassin’s Creed, Just Dance, Tom Clancy’s video game series, Rayman and Far Cry. The teams throughout Ubisoft’s worldwide network of studios and business offices are committed to delivering original and memorable gaming experiences across all popular platforms, including consoles, mobile phones, tablets and PCs. For the 2012-13 fiscal year Ubisoft generated sales of €1,256 million. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoftgroup.com.
SteelSeries Stratus Wireless Gaming Controller Now Available For $79.99 / €79.99
CHICAGO – Jan. 23, 2014 – SteelSeries, a global leader in the gaming peripherals and accessories market, today revealed that the Stratus Wireless Gaming Controller, the only iOS controller that is wireless and that works with iPad®, iPhone®, and iPod touch® is now available at Apple stores and at Apple.com for $79.99/ €79.99. The device, introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this month, is specifically designed for console-style gameplay on iPad®, iPhone®, and iPod touch® running iOS 7 with supported, controller-enabled games.
“The media and consumer reaction to the announcement of the Stratus Controller at CES really demonstrated the power behind this product, and the new category of gaming we can enable by working together with Apple,” said Bruce Hawver, SteelSeries CEO. “More than ever, we see the power of this platform and we want to make every effort to make it accessible to as many consumers as possible. We have therefore worked closely with our retail partners and suppliers with the objective of lowering the retail price target without changing any of the terrific features of this product.”
“Since our inception, SteelSeries has been committed to not only making great and innovative products, but also to investing considerable time and resources into building a global gaming community. Working diligently with our suppliers to lower the MSRP, which we believe will help welcome a new world of gamers into this exciting space, allows us to stay true to our roots and provide consumers everywhere an exceptional value,” said Jacob Wolff-Petersen, SteelSeries Founder.
SteelSeries will honor the launch price of $79.99 / €79.99 on all pre-orders it has already taken for the controller on its websites globally.
SteelSeries is a leading manufacturer of top quality gaming peripherals from headsets, keyboards and mice to controllers, surfaces and software. For more than a decade, SteelSeries has been on the forefront of designing and creating gear for gamers. The company’s continued innovation also comes in collaboration with the world’s leading professional gaming teams and partners. SteelSeries is a global brand that continues to support the growth of competitive gaming tournaments and electronic sports leagues through professional team sponsorships, partnerships and community support. For more information, please visit http://steelseries.com.
Apple is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
IOS is a trademark or registered trademark of Cisco in the U.S. and other countries and is used under license.
KONAMI Unveils New Trailer Depicting Key Cast from Epic ‘Lords of Shadow’ Conclusion
Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. today released a new trailer showcasing key characters in its forthcoming Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 title.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 will be released for PlayStation�3, Xbox 360� and Windows PC on February 25, 201,4 and acts as a shocking conclusion to the Gabriel story arc. Following the infamous revelation where Gabriel was shown to be the legendary Dracula at the end of the first game, the new game finds the weakened vampire stranded in modern times, where an old ally proposes a deal that could offer him freedom from his eternal existence.
The new trailer highlights footage from the game to introduce a range of key characters and adversaries from the new installment including; Dracula, once Gabriel, a member of the Brotherhood of Light who fought to avenge the death of his beloved wife Marie, but fate got the better of him, transforming him into Dracula � the most feared of all vampires. Also returning is Zobek, one of the founders of the Brotherhood of Light, who is, in reality, one of the evil Lords of Shadow who betrayed Gabriel and all of humanity. Carmilla, Marie and Satan himself make a return, in addition to a slew of new characters.The new trailer also showcases some previously unseen locations and environments.
View the full cast of characters in the new Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, Dracula’s Destiny trailer here: <iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”//www.youtube.com/embed/VgtztYmjVxg” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 will be released for PlayStation�3, Xbox 360� and Windows PC in North and South America on February 25, 2014.
Nexon Europe’s Closed Beta Ends Successfully for Latest MMORPG
Luxembourg – January 23, 2014: Nexon Europe is proud to announce that Arcane Chronicles (http://en.arcane.nexoneu.com/) has ended its Closed Beta with great user support and feedback, as the fantasy browser-based MMORPG looks ahead to the launch in the near future.
With an astonishing level of depth on offer in Arcane Chronicles, Nexon Europe has received great response from numerous users in the Closed Beta. Users who tested the server took pleasure in hiring friendly mercenaries, summoning boss monsters, and crafting and enchanting items in a vast and captivating fantasy world.
“Nexon Europe would like to thank all who participated in the Closed Beta. The game is ultimately for the players and the community, so it’s their opinion that we value most highly,” said Kevin Kim, Product Manager of Arcane Chronicles. “We’ll have a few minor adjustments before the launch and we’ll be sure to integrate all of the useful feedback to build the perfect MMORPG.”
To listen to users’ feedback more clearly, Nexon Europe has set up a survey online. For any suggestions, opinions, or comments, visit the survey site athttps://www.surveymonkey.com/s/arcaneCBT_EN.
For more information on Nexon Europe and its games, please visit the official website athttp://nexoneu.com.
About Nexon Europe
Established in March 2007, Nexon Europe is one of the leading publishers of free-to-play MMOs in Europe. The company has brought the worldwide hit casual MMORPG MapleStory to Europe in May 2007, and the successful FPS Combat Arms in January 2009. With the launch of the 3D action MMORPG Vindictus in 2011, Nexon Europe has strengthened its position as a promising publisher in Europe. Next to these in-house franchises, Nexon Europe was also able to acquire and fully operate Atlantica Online, an innovative, tactical MMORPG; Dekaron, an authentic action MMORPG set in a grim fantasy universe; and the action-packed FPS War Rock. The newest additions to its growing portfolio are Navy Field 2 alongside the legendary FPS game Counter-Strike Online in Turkey. For 2014, the company’s first browser-based full-scale MMORPG Arcane Chronicles and fun-packed, action fighting game Lost Saga will join as new line-ups. For more information on Nexon Europe and its games, please visit the official website at www.nexoneu.com.
Fear. It’s something we all have, something that sits just beneath the surface, something that makes an appearance at some of the most crucial times in our lives and it is something that has been with us for all of eternity yet we collectively enjoy watching scary movies and playing scary games as well as telling scary stories, why is this? I don’t have the answer to such a pseudo-profound question but maybe Chillingo does. “In Fear I Trust” is a mobile-based horror game that puts you in the shoes of a man who knows as much about the world he’s in as you do…so nothing at this point in time. You’re tasked with exploring his environment to simply try and understand just what is going on. “In Fear I Trust” brings psychological horror to iOS devices in a way like you’ve never seen before, it leaves you with nothing but fear and confusion and I suppose the question I should ask is; which one do you trust? I’m sure you know the answer.
Story
This title is quite an odd one to speak about regarding the story because, even for someone like me who has played through the game, there is yet to be an end to the story simply due to the way in which the games updates have been layout out; with every update comes a new episode to add onto the story. It is a story shrouded in mystery and the whole point to playing this game is to actually uncover the story for yourself piece by piece all the way down to the most minor detail and most of it is done through finding collectables that you can read or listen to. You wake up in a cell, cold and alone, it seems like no-one else is around and all you can hear are the feint sounds of clanging or banging but they’re off in the distance so you don’t quite worry about it. From there you escape your cell and begin searching around what first looks like a gaol (jail) but then some sort of laboratory, through picking up said collectables you begin to get an idea of exactly where you are and it seems as though you’re in some sort of facility that has been dedicated to researching the human mind and its endless possibilities.
Now I’ve had no inside explanation from developers or publishers, this is entirely what I have pieced together while playing through the game so I COULD be wrong about it. Most of what is written on the facilities walls are in what looks to be Russian but there is also quite a few things written in English around the establishment, that mixed with the fact that all the voice actors seem to be American add more confusion to the whole story but I suppose we’ll find out more about it in the coming episodes. Once again, there may have been things I accidentally overlooked, it’s quite an in-depth game. I love the story because it’s so overly fictional but the way it is put across is so non-fictional because of how well-written documents in the game are and how good the voice actors are within the game, it seems almost real, almost like this could have happened some time throughout history. I quite enjoyed the thrill of slowly uncovering everything piece by piece, like I mentioned; it felt real and that made the whole game all the more immersive.
Gameplay
“In Fear I Trust” has a very basic style of gameplay, one that I’m sure audiences have seen many times before but one that really doesn’t need to be changed because it has already been mostly perfected. You’re thrown into a first person view and you use thumbsticks (with the choice to change to a tapping style of gameplay) to move around much like in any of the first-person shooters everybody is so into nowadays. You’re basically to look around the environments you’re put into and investigate every nook and cranny to find clues on both what the hell is going on in this large facility and how to get out of it so it’s your typical “point-and-click” puzzler with a bit of a twist. Essentially you find items that interact with other items that allow you to move on within he game, each item works as a key to another item which works like a lock, that’s probably the best way of looking at it.
There’s also this vision that allows you to see a lot of things that hide just beneath the surface like clues on how to get certain places and special audio files that help fill in the story, this ability is essential throughout the game and it may or may not actually have something to do with the story. It plays well and fairly smooth, I didn’t particularly like the thumbstick style of gameplay at first but eventually I got used to it and it become more fluid. Puzzles varied, some made me feel really smart yet others stumped me for long periods of time, it’s just how puzzle games go and I think it was done nicely. Fact is, the game is very story driven so I don’t think the developers throw things that are too hard at you because they know that you really just want to find more information about what is exactly going on, they found a nice balance.
Visuals
Aesthetically this game is outstanding in every single way, not only is it the one of the best looking mobile games I’ve seen as of late but, as a game in general, it is actually incredibly good-looking. Graphically this game is great but what I’d like to put more of my focus on is the actual layout of levels and rooms within the game: Because of its mystery/horror theme, “In Fear I Trust” has a lot of intimidating and sometimes scary-looking places to investigate, all these places come across exactly how I assume the development team wanted them to. Between the startling flashes and illuminated figures of people appearing at the corner of your eye as well as the words with hidden messages splayed across walls…it makes for a very sinister environment.
I found this game to be just as scary as it was boasted to be and I think it has a great deal to do with the way the game looks just as much as it has to do with the way the game sounds. Constant shaking of the screen and fades to black as well as odd and startling visual images really raises the tension within the game, it had me scared to turn the character around at times thinking something was going to scare the heck out of me, nothing ever really did but the fact that the environment could instil a sense of fear into is great one at that especially for a horror title.
Audio
Before you even start to play “In Fear I Trust” I prompt appears on your screen telling you that it is suggested you use headphones whilst playing this game now while they say it as a suggestion I will say it to you as a command because this game has some of the most effective environmental noises I’ve ever come across, especially within a mystery/horror game. “In Fear I trust” has no music tracks though I don’t believe this type of game would have necessarily needed any because its goal is to scare you not to impress you with its musical talents and scare you it does! The best way I can explain this with words is this: I want you to imagine you’re in an empty car-park, maybe at a mall or shopping centre, now imagine the lights are off and you know that people have been attacked in this car park recently, you begin to hear feint noises in the distance, noises that may sound like a lead pole hitting a concrete floor or chains being dangled as something comes towards you, or so you think.
The noises fade for a while but soon return, some are louder, some seem further away, they are all varied and you don’t know what to expect next. THAT is the basic vibe you get from the game and it is almost entirely done with sound. I played this without headphones as well as with headphones and both times I was somewhat frightened so don’t take this game too lightly just because it is on a mobile device. Something I, somewhat, forgot about in my sound effect-caused excitement was that the voice acting in this game was absolutely brilliant, I was quite shocked to hear how good the actual actors did but they did a fantastic job!
Overall
“In Fear I Trust” takes everything we know about mystery/horror/point-and-click games and builds on it like a sturdy foundation, it doesn’t flip it on its head, it doesn’t shake it up, it simply builds on what was already good about the genre and makes it even better. I’m not a fan of these types of games at all, my reach tends only to stretch as far as action/adventure and doesn’t usually dip into the “thinking” side of gaming but this game right here hooked me in and it doesn’t take a genius to realise how good a game must be to drag in people NOT of its target audience. It is a game that must be played for its story if not for the way it is actually played, if you’re not a fan of the point-and-click style of gaming but are still interested in the sci-fi/supernatural aspect of it I’d still say this is a game for you. It’s very in-depth, it knows what it’s doing and it hooks you in, what more can I say? “In Fear I Trust” has absolutely become a game I’d put my trust in.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 5.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPad 2 Wi-Fi, iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G, iPad Wi-Fi (3rd generation), iPad Wi-Fi + Cellular (3rd generation), iPad Wi-Fi (4th generation), iPad Wi-Fi + Cellular (4th generation), iPad mini Wi-Fi, iPad mini Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air, iPad Air Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini with Retina display, and iPad mini with Retina display Wi-Fi + Cellular. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
Description
PLEASE NOTE: For the best and most terrifying In Fear I Trust experience iPhone 4S and newer devices are recommended. Not compatible with iPod touch devices.
“One of the creepiest iOS games I’ve ever seen” – Bloody Disgusting
“In Fear I Trust isn’t just a game title – it’s a directive” – Kotaku
Face your fears and experience a psychological thriller unlike anything you’ve seen before. In Fear I Trust brings a new kind of nightmare to mobile with stunning visuals, brain-teasing puzzles, and terrifying revelations.
A TRAUMATIC TALE
How did you end up in this place? Escape from a terrifying facility and piece together the horrific events that led you to become a test subject in a mysterious experiment.
AN UNREAL EXPERIENCE
Explore eerie locations, relive disturbing memories, and endure against a haunting atmosphere. In Fear I Trust channels the power of the Unreal Engine 3 make this nightmare a reality on mobile.
MIND-BENDING PUZZLES
Use Retrospective mode to gain a new perspective on your surroundings.
Study notes, examine objects, and use what’s left of your sanity to solve elaborate interactive puzzles.
Visit the Chillingo room on the App Store to see more of our great games: appstore.com/chillingo
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D-Frag! Episode 2 – Curse You, Fake Game Creation Club
After the first episode of D-Frag! presented us with club hijinks at their finest it was an easy decision to keep following the series and now this second episode has helped prove my point. The first episode introduced us to our main character in the form of Kazama, the straight man who has now been forced to join the Game Creation Club full of girls who are as eccentric as they come with stereotypes taken to the extreme.
However what if the Game Creation Club that Kazama has been forced to join wasn’t the only Game Creation Club on campus? Well that is what this second episode is all about because since Kazama has been suspended from school for a day after jumping into the girl’s locker room due to provocations from Chitose, the Student Council President/fellow club member, he has a lot of free time on his hands but it appears that he has drawn the attention of a mysterious hooded group.
After Kazama tires of their provocations and threatens them, the group reveal themselves to be the real Game Creation Club and tell him that he has joined a fake club instead and the best thing for both of them would be if he left. After introducing another batch of characters in the form of this alternate club, things take a step forward to reveal that the president of the real club, Takao, and Roka have quite a past with one another.
From this past we learn where this rivalry of clubs began and why Roka is on the outs with Takao as her personality is far from normal and began to scare away members of the club. Though Chitose’s actions didn’t exactly help anything either. As such we are presented with both clubs going against one another in a game creation competition just in time for a school festival that is approaching, with the losing club merging with the winning club.
It is pretty clear from the opening theme for D-Frag! that this series is going to have a lot of characters to work with and with this latest episode we get four new characters right in the second episode though I have a feeling that only Takao will remain a key character in the future. Still, from the group we have a whole slew of comedic material ripe for the picking as there is the partially air-headed big-breasted Takao, the extremely perverted glasses girl Tsutsumi, a trap that openly reveals himself in girls’ clothing by the name of Sakuragaoka, and a big muscular guy with a heart of gold and a glass chin named Yamada.
Put these together with the hilarious members of the fake Game Creation Club and there are already so many characters and jokes to toss at viewers and the series really doesn’t let up at all in this second episode. While the first episode had to spend a bit of time introducing characters and going over some of the elements of the school, this second episode was a gag a second as we had everything from sight gags, puns, slapstick and more all while throwing a little bit of drama and competition at the end to keep the story moving along.
The characters aren’t really developed outside of Takao and Roka, though it feels like that isn’t really necessary as this comedy series is mostly about the laughs. That being said, it’ll probably be hard to stick with a favorite character in this series as the first episode had me liking the tomboyish Sakura at first but now Takao has taken over as the lead girl for the series but considering the amount of characters we will probably end up with as the series progresses and how the characters are heavily reliant based on the jokes they play or are the butt of, it will be interesting to see if she will remain the best so far.
D-Frag! has stayed strong in this second episode and that is great news as some comedies can throw everything they have at the viewer in the first episode and fall apart after that as they have nothing left to rely on. The animation quality also remained fairly high in this second episode and we were able to see the ending theme, though it is a pretty standard chibi ending the song used is fairly enjoyable. When all is said and done this second episode had me laughing even more than the first and you can’t ask for anything more than that when it comes to a comedy series such as D-Frag!.
Currently D-Frag! is available for streaming in the United States by FUNimation. As for the rest of our winter impressions, you can check out our Anime Impressions page.
World of Tanks Scores New Peak Concurrent User Record
Over one million players log onto Russian game’s cluster simultaneously
January 22, 2014 — Wargaming today announced that its free-to-play MMO action game World of Tanks has set a new record with a total of over 1,114,000 gamers playing concurrently on the Russian cluster on January 19, 2014.
“In 2013, we put a great amount of effort into growing World of Tanks, enriching it with new gameplay features and content,” said Andrei Yarantsau, VP of Publishing at Wargaming. “Tankmen on the Russian servers all play at different times of the day and although their overall number has long since surpassed several million daily active users, the PCCU has been hovering around 900,000 gamers for the past few months. Finally, we’ve breached the one million mark. We are set to scale even greater heights with considerable improvements planned for World of Tanks in 2014”.
The forces of virtual tankers already stand over 75,000,000 strong globally and with this continuous growth the Wargaming team remains committed to make sure the millions of World of Tanks players out there have a great experience with the game moving forward.
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About World of Tanks
World of Tanks is the first and only team-based, massively multiplayer online action game dedicated to armored warfare. Throw yourself into the epic tank battles of World War II with other steel cowboys all over the world. Your arsenal includes over 300 armored vehicles from United States, Germany, the Soviet Union, France, Great Britain, Japan, and China, carefully detailed with historical accuracy.
A flexible system of authentic vehicle upgrades and development allows you to try any of the vehicles and weapons in the game. Whether you prefer to exhaust your foes with fast and maneuverable light tanks, make deep breaches in enemy lines with all-purpose medium tanks, use the force of giant tanks to eliminate opposing armored forces, or become a heavy sniper with long-range howitzers, each unit type has its own advantages and can be extremely effective when operated by a true tank ace.
But being a great tank commander alone isn’t enough to win! In World of Tanks, it’s all about teamwork. Victory is achieved by combining your combat skills with those of the other members of your team, each playing their own role on the battlefield. Just add your favorite strategy to build your own steel empire and manifest the indisputable authority of the tank power!
Wargaming is an award-winning online game developer and publisher and one of the leaders in the free-to-play MMO market. Founded as a privately held company in 1998, Wargaming has shipped more than 15 titles and employs over 2800 people across such key regions as North America, Europe, Russia, Asia, and Australia.
Currently, Wargaming is focused on its team-based MMO war series dedicated to mid-20th century warfare that will include the company’s flagship armored MMO World of Tanks, launched in April 2011 and currently boasting 75 million players worldwide, the flight combat World of Warplanes, named one of the most anticipated MMOs, and the naval World of Warships, scheduled for release in 2014.
In June 2012, Wargaming announced the Wargaming.net Service, the epicenter of the online battle gaming universe that will gather the series under a single portal — www.wargaming.net.
Overview Thor Freudenthal’s film adaption of the second novel ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters’ by Rick Riordan, has been reawakened after three years since Chris Columbus’ Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. The shortened movie title of the sequel, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters entails the most suitable “pre-teen” adventure for the heir of Poseidon, God of the Sea. With a new director and screenwriter (Marc Guggenheim), will Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters bring ashore the well-known fantasy or abandon a sinking ship?
Story The film begins with the voice of the protagonist, Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman), who reintroduces himself as the only God-born son (half-blood) of Poseidon. In order to establish the story, Percy takes the audience back seven years to when four half-bloods –Annabeth, Luke, Thalia and Grover –were running from monsters towards the only safe place for their kind. Thalia, daughter of Zeus, sacrifices her life to save her friends and in return Zeus transforms her into a tree, that enables a barrier of protection for Camp Half-Blood.
Now in the present-day, Percy is in a battle against the narcissistic Clarisse (Leven Rambin), daughter of Ares, to determine who the strongest and bravest leader is. The power-play between sexes comes across as very childish and steers the audience away from the main focus of the film. That is, Percy’s goal to prove that he is ‘prophecy-worthy’ and can make the right choices without the guidance of his father. However, matters change for Percy with the unexpected arrival of Tyson (Douglas Smith), his ocularly impaired brother.
Accordingly, a fire-breathing Colchis Bull breaks the tension of newcomers, as well as the barrier surrounding the camp. In an outburst of terror, the half-blood’s scatter and Percy takes the initiative to destroy the mechanical beast with the help of the fireproof Tyson, Annabeth the damsel in distress (Alexandra Daddario) and Grover the satyr (Brandon T. Jackson). Upon the discovery that Thalia’s tree has been poisoned and can no longer protect the camp, the real danger of annihilation of every demigod, satyr, centaur and nymph, sets in motion a journey into the Sea of Monsters.
The ignorant and amusing Mr. D (Stanley Tucci) takes the advice from Annabeth and Grover to retrieve the Golden Fleece that will restore Thalia’s tree and the barrier around Camp Half-Blood. Only, he sends Clarisse and her army to the Polyphemus’ Lair in Circeland in the Sea of Monsters (a.k.a. Bermuda Triangle). Despite this, the foursome –Annabeth, Grover, Percy and Tyson –take it into their own hands to complete the quest and save the camp.
The journey entails a few comedic turns from a bizarre cab ride to the stomach of Charybdis, as the group come closer to the Golden Fleece and the truth behind the prophecy. The great threat does not match the power of one, Percy Jackson; who learns that in order to succeed you need to believe in yourself and create your own destiny. Without spelling out the conclusion, the audience should be able to decipher what happens, mainly because of the simplistic storyline and narrative progression.
Visuals Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters does a fantastic job in the special effects department, incorporating a range of fantastical elements. The most impressive is the mist effect, which makes the mystical appear normal; ergo Tyson the Cyclops changes from having one to two eyes. The visual experience is heightened by the vast and glorious landscapes shot by cinematographer, Shelly Johnson, who uses panavision primo lenses. An exemplary scene involves Tyson, Annabeth and Percy riding a gorgeous Hippocampus across the sea, with ripples of water splashing onto the camera to bring the audience closer to the setting.
Film fanatics should take note that the high definition graphics are accessible outside the traditional formats, with Digital HD viewers can buy, collect and enjoy their favourite Fox movies, including Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, digitally by streaming or downloading them on their laptop, tablet and other digital devices.
Audio Composer Andrew Lockington, well-known for his music in ‘Journey 2: The Mysterious Island’, brings to Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters a similar orchestral score that explores the wonders of a new world. In addition, the soundtrack choices accelerate the adventurous atmosphere in the film, including ‘Light ‘Em Up’ by Fall Out Boy and ‘To Feel Alive’ by IAMEVE. Above all, the sound-effects effectively draw the audience into the magical quest and add a dimension of realness to the fantasy.
Extras The DVD edition of Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters entitles viewers to exclusive extras, with the cast on their experience working together at Camp Half-Blood and the director’s discussion about creating ‘The Eye’ for Tyson. Thor Freudenthal explains that it was important to construct a character based on a monster from Greek Mythology, to explore the prime example of being ostracised in terms of appearances. As the film progresses, the characters becomes more understanding and accepting of Tyson, for he is a warm-hearted and friendly creature.
Overall Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters is a classic example of a film targeted for a younger audience (pre-teens) and therefore will not appeal to an older generation. The sequel scratched the surface of the novel, but did not maintain the premise and ultimately the narrative structure suffered in the film (as with Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief). The predictability of the storyline and limited effort to steer away from the typical fantasy genre, did not allow the audience to experience a new adventure. Unfortunately there were no awe-inspiring performances from the cast, in fact they were more humorous than serious throughout the film. Nevertheless, the film deserves merit for its exceptional effort in special effects and the musical score. Overall, it is plausible to deduce that the majority would agree Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters is a film with the odds of a sinking ship. Abandon the sea of monsters and hopefully the next release Percy Jackson: The Titan’s Curse will wash viewers ashore into a great fantasy.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
This isn’t exactly huge news, but it might strike a sad chord with the Dragon Ball Z crowd out there who enjoy the authentic, Japanese voice acting. Namco has announced that the packaging for the game was inaccurate, and that the official product will only feature English voice overs, rather than both.
Here are a few more details on the subject from the press release sent out today:
NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe S.A.S notified players today that an inaccurate info has been spotted on the Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z Playstation Vita packaging regarding the audio support of the game.
The packaging of the Playstation Vita indeed mentions the support of Japanese and English voice-over but the game actually supports only the latter, as shown on the Playstation Vita Demo released on December, 18th.
NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe wishes to apologize to fans and players for the inconvenience.
You can download the demo if you own a Vita, and get the full package when it launches later this week.
