Dying Light the next undead game coming from Techland, the makers of Dead Island, have put out a new trailer with Warner Bros. focusing less on the “dying” half of the name, and more on the “light” half. Since Dying Light is using Techland’s own in-house engine Chrome Engine 6, they’ve taken the effort to prepare for the next-gen power available to make realistic light and shadow.
While this might not be as spectacular to see in the daylight, as that bright burning sphere we know as the sun is providing plenty of light, the night may be even more impressive. The trailer also shows off a new location in Dying Light that has previously gone unseen, Old Town.
Those wanting to see what kind of tech Techland is packing into Dying Light can check out the Lighting Trailer embedded below. Those wanting to find out more can check out our interview with producer Tymon Smektala. Dying Light is currently set to release in 2014 for Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
Sons of Abraham unleashes a new aspect to the Crusader Kings II world – religion. It celebrates the three Abrahamic religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The expansion includes hundreds of new religious events based on the Bible, Torah, and Qur’an. Play Papal politics, restore the High Priesthood of Israel, and more!
Sons of Abraham is available for download for $9.99. Be sure to check out the launch trailer from Paradox in the video player below this article. You can also check out their official website here.
Wrack is an arcade FPS inspired by classic titles like Doom, Quake, and Duke Nukem with a modern cel shaded twist. The game is currently in beta testing and is available for Early Access on Steam. Players will fight for the top score on the leaderboards by chaining kills and moving through levels as quickly as possible in this fast and furious FPS.
Currently, Final Boss Entertainment is polishing Wrack and adding content to the game. There are three gameplay modes and six levels currently, with more content being added. Story mode will follow the levels in chronological order while Time Attack and Score Attack modes will have players play through one level for either the fastest time possible or the highest final score.
Wrack stars Kain Sagar, the last warrior left on Earth. The Hyperion Generator brought world peace after it eliminated hunger and inequality among humans thanks to its incredible ability to create things out of pure energy. Soldiers were no longer needed, leaving Kain preparing for a war that people insisted would never come. Now aliens called the Arcturans have invaded Earth to steal the generator and Kain is the only person capable of stopping them. The plot follows the classic one man army formula found in many old school first person shooters. The writing is so corny it is funny. Duke Nukem would be proud.
Gamers who have been introduced to first person shooters by Modern Warfare will be in for a shocking change of pace in Wrack. The game is a throwback to the old days of shooters where healing meant jumping on the nearby health pack and a magazine was just a periodical. There is no sprint button and no stamina to manage, just fast and furious action. Wrack does a great job bringing back the old school style of gameplay. The game is primed for speed, as I noticed the player does move significantly faster than the average FPS. The speed is a little disorienting at first, but it stops just short of being completely out of control. I had a hard time stopping on a dime in Wrack. I found Kain would propel a step or two forward before coming to a complete stop, which cause a few stomach turning moments during jumping puzzles.
Currently, Wrack has five weapons. Kain will always start with his sword, a hard hitting melee weapon that will need a little bit of timing to master. I found it became an effective weapon once I mastered rushing the enemy and timing my movement to back away just after the sword struck. The pistol feels a little strange as it is meant to be a weak but long ranged weapon. It goes against everything FPS players have been taught through years of playing, but Wrack’s pistol is deadly accurate and is great for thinning out the hordes before closing in with a more powerful weapon. The shotgun is definitely the best weapon in the game at the moment. The ammunition is plentiful, the damage is excellent even at long ranges, and it works well for Wrack’s fast pace gameplay. The Pulsar rifle is a wonderful twist on the assault rifle. Instead of firing straight, the Pulsar actually fires slower moving energy balls in an arc, much like a grenade launcher. The final weapon in the game is the Bazooka. It is deadly accurate, but the splash damage range to the player makes it incredibly risky to use even in medium ranges. Rocket jumps are possible, but the player will need to be topped up with high health and armour to even survive the jump. Out of all the weapons, it feels the most out of place as it behaves more like a bazooka found in a modern combat FPS than an old school rocket launcher.
The level design in Wrack are very straight forward and are designed with speed runs in mind. The player will need to fight their way to red buttons on the wall to open up a blocked area earlier in the map, then fight their way back to the new area. The par time for each level is roughly ten to fifteen minutes each. There are several jumping puzzles scattered around the maps that are considered secret areas and will provide bonuses. Some of the puzzles are downright devious, though I will be the first to admit I am embarrassingly bad at jumping puzzles.
There is a decent variety of enemies in Wrack. The Contra style boss fights are probably one of the best things in the game as each boss has an attack pattern that can be dodged. I feel the boss fights are too short to be satisfying at this point. A generous boost in their hit points is in order. The Arcuturan aliens come in a variety of size and armours. The armour designates what weapon the alien carries and the larger aliens have much higher health. I found it is hard to tell what size the aliens are without another sized alien for context, which often ended in a rocket being wasted in a situation that could have been dealt with a pistol. I would like to see something more obvious to distinguish the high and low health aliens.
The AI could use a bit of a tune up at this point. Enemies have a hard time detecting Kain when he is standing below them. Also, the red rail gun aliens have an uncanny ability to lock onto and shoot Kain, which makes dodging them impossible at this point. Hopefully, these will be ironed out in coming patches.
Wrack’s cel shaded graphics are looking fantastic. Final Boss Entertainment has created a great looking comic book style that suits the game’s feel. Even in beta, the game runs extremely well on my rig. Visually, the game seems almost complete. The only things that are missing are some cut scenes and the animations for one boss and the red armoured aliens.
The sound effects in Wrack are good, but the game really struggles with a lack of music variety. Each level replays the same song ad nauseum. The music thankfully changes between levels, but I found it painful to listen to the same song looped non-stop for fifteen minutes at a time.
Wrack is definitely a classic FPS cloaked in modern graphics. The game is fast and intense. There are definitely some balance issues that need to be ironed out in the beta, including the music and weapon balancing. However, all of these weak spots can definitely be dealt with while the game is in beta. Wrack is shaping up to be the antidote for anyone sick and tired of modern combat shooters.
Today Square Enix has announced the final release date for Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster in North America and Europe. The game will be hitting stores one month after the release of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, meaning it will be available on March 18, 2014 for the PlayStation 3. Currently no release details have been given for the Vita version of the game.
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster will cost $39.99 and anyone who pre-orders will be automatically upgraded to the limited edition which features a special box art and a concept art book. To go along with this announcement a new trailer for the game was released and you can check it out below.
Now that Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2: Sisters Generation has a release date in Japan, Compile Heart has released the first trailer for the game which also helps introduce gamers to the four new playable characters in the game, the Oracles.
Fans of Neptunia Mk2, localized by NIS America, are already familiar with the Oracles, but they are the Oracle of Lastation Kei Jinguji, Oracle of Leanbox Chika Hakozaki, Oracle of Lowee Mina Nishizawa, and Oracle Histoire. The Oracles usually serve as assistants for the CPUs but they will now be joining the CPU candidates in battle as they fight to rescue their older sisters and friends.
Last week it was revealed that a new character will be added to the arcade version of Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate, at the time her name was roughly translated and we only knew her appearance. Now a few more details have been revealed as well as some gameplay footage and screenshots.
Her name is Marie Rose and although she may appear to be a loli, she uses a Russian military style called “Systema” and she possesses a dark secret which has not yet been unveiled. She works as a maid, loves cakes, and watching scary movies. Her fighting style allows her to use a number of different movements because it features no set stance and she can use her small body to her advantage with tricky moves. Currently Tecmo Koei has not mentioned whether or not she will be released for the home version of the game.
It looks like Atlus USA has something up their sleeves and we may be hearing about it sometime this week. With their latest email sent out to their Atlus Faithful, a link on the bottom of the message lead to a very strange site portraying a baby in the womb via an ultrasound.
The site also features little bits of text that is probably referencing at least a handful of Atlus titles since one is Gold 4 which likely refers to Persona 4: Golden. This could either be a brand new game announcement for Atlus itself, or a new localization and if it happens to be the latter, signs are pointing to a certain RPG called Conception II, what with the baby ultrasound and the site URL containing “sc_c2”.
Breaking Bad is touted as one of the best TV shows to ever be produced, and its ending left viewers satisfied while still giving us a wealth of plot points and intricacies to debate and discuss for years to come. Although, what if it had ended differently?
While Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) has the need for speed, Heisenberg himself, Bryan Cranston has brought to life an all new-alternate ending to the show. I wont give away any spoilers, but this is the ending that a lot of fans secretly wished for. Check out the video below which has the entire conclusion, and let us know your thoughts in the comments. As always, for all the hit TV news when it comes available, stay tuned to Capsule Computers.
Overview The weather is getting colder and although a tornado just swept on through here, it is starting to feel like Christmas now that stores have begun stocking ornaments and the first snowfall has already occurred. As such, it seems like it is prime time to bring a Christmas themed shojo manga over to North America and Viz Media has done just that with Sweet Rein. Now that the first volume has been released, does this Christmas themed series start off well?
Story Kurumi Sagara is used to spending time alone. Her mother passed away when she was young and her father spends all of his time at work in an effort to provide for the family. With all of her friends already planning parties with their boyfriends or relatives, Kurumi has resigned herself to spending yet another Christmas alone.
In an effort to clear her head, she takes a walk through town only to bump into a boy who seems to be bumping into everyone that he sees. The only problem is, when she bumps into this boy a rein suddenly wraps itself around her wrist and as she looks back, it connects to the boy’s neck. The boy, named Kaito is ecstatic as he proclaims that he has found his master and that she is a Santa.
At first she believes that he is crazy, but at her command he turns into a reindeer right there in the middle of the street. Kurumi now finds herself in a master and servant relationship where Kaito will do anything that she asks of him, whether it is to turn into a reindeer, fly to her no matter where she is, or even get launched away when she wants her space.
Despite the crazy circumstances, Kurumi takes everything in stride as she meets with Kaito’s family, consisting mostly of other reindeer, and accepts her responsibilities as a Santa Claus, learning that there are many more people like her and Kaito out in the world. As she begins to spend time with Kaito, will this lonely girl find happiness?
Sweet Rein is a rather simple manga at heart. While the idea of Santa and humans that turn into reindeer is certainly novel, this first volume is rather simplistic but still heartwarming in a number of ways. Thanks to the fact that there are only three actual chapters in this release, the story moves at a brisk pace as Kurumi learns to handle her new situation, helps out a child in need, and deals with someone from Kaito’s past.
All of this occurs while she struggles with her feelings for Kaito since, despite his constant devotion and love for her seems true, she is prone to bouts of jealousy and is concerned over how quickly he seems to have developed feelings for her. While stereotypical, it still makes for a rather enjoyable read that will leave the reader smiling and even laughing thanks to the artwork and events in certain panels. It also helps that this first volume avoids a lot of issues that plague many romantic comedies such as this and is pretty much devoid of any worthless drama.
Artwork It is always interesting to see an author handling her own artwork as there is little disconnect with what she wanted to portray and how it is shown. In Sweet Rein we have a rather simplistic art style that is very familiar to the handful of shojo manga that I have seen in the past. Only a few characters are given importance in the series, so Kurumi and Kaito are nicely detailed and Kurumi has a number of cute outfits that she wears throughout the volume as she switches between a Santa outfit and more standard clothing.
The panels are rather basic except for the standard shojo background effects during romantic moments and there are a handful of large panels that are very nice looking with plenty of Christmas-like illustrations. It is also worth noting that any time that Kaito is shown in his reindeer form it is very cute, especially when he is depressed in that form. Thankfully there are no issues with the English text obscuring the artwork as everything is handled nicely and all sound effects have been translated into their English equivalent.
Extra Content Throughout each of the chapters in Sweet Rein Volume 1 there are occasional ‘Sakura Mail’ panels on the left page which feature notes from the author Sakura Tsukuba as she talks about her reasoning for creating the series and adding specific elements to the story. Interestingly enough, she does mention a few colored pages however no colored pages are included in this release. The final few pages of the volume also feature a full page of Sakura Mail which is followed by character introductions.
Sweet Rein Volume 1 may only be three chapters long, but it does feature an interesting one-shot chapter from Tsukuba which focuses on an entirely different cast and situation. The one-shot is titled Sweet Bite Mark and follows a tamed vampire who lives in the modern day. Since vampire bites are almost always deadly, he avoids biting people whenever possible and works with a special agent to get by. However when a little girl appears claiming to be his daughter, he is in for a slight change of pace. This little inclusion is a nice closing story and also features comments from the author referencing how she wanted to write a vampire story such as this.
Overall Sweet Rein Volume 1 is a rather basic romantic comedy shojo manga but it is still fun to read. Without extra drama to hold it back, the manga remains light-hearted almost the entire time and when something dramatic does occur, Kurumi perseveres to try and make it right. Although rather short to begin with, Sweet Rein’s first volume offers an enjoyable new take on Christmas, Santa Claus, and his, or in this case her Reindeer and their budding relationship.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
The holidays are just around the corner, and now we all have to think about what to get for our loved ones. Well if you are racking your brain trying to think of a present that doesn’t revolve around an Xbox One or a PS4 then Wizards of the Coast have you covered. This year’s Magic the Gathering Holiday Box is available now!
The box itself is sturdy, beautifully designed and will hold upwards of 2000 cards, which means at the very least you will have provided your favorite Planeswalker with a perfect place to keep the rest of their Magic related Christmas presents. However, a storage container is the least of the goodies available in this bad boy. You will also get 4 Theros booster packs, a pack of 20 basic land (4 of each type), plastic dividers featuring gorgeous artwork to separate your cards how you see fit, stickers to further customise the dividers, and a special alternate art Karametra’s Acolyte card (which is only available in this collection). All of that for the RRP of $29.95
The 2013 Holiday Box is available now, so be sure to pick one up for card-tapping, strategy devising loved ones. We have a tonne of Magic news coming in the following days, including our review of one of this year’s Commander Decks, so be sure to stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Magic the Gathering news as it becomes available.
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The box itself is sturdy, beautifully designed and will hold upwards of 2000 cards, which means at the very least you will have provided your favorite Planeswalker with a perfect place to keep the rest of their Magic related Christmas presents. However, a storage container is the least of the goodies available in this bad boy. You will also get 4 Theros booster packs, a pack of 20 basic land (4 of each type), plastic dividers featuring gorgeous artwork to separate your cards how you see fit, stickers to further customise the dividers, and a special alternate art Karametra’s Acolyte card (which is only available in this collection). All of that for the RRP of $29.95