Page 4201 – Capsule Computers

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November 8, 2013

“Swords and Spells”: PvP and GvG features in detail

Hamburg, November 8 2013 – The launch of the mobile fantasy RPG “Swords and Spells” is just a few days away. While, behind the scene, the finishing touches are being feverishly put to the iOS app. Xyrality, developer and publisher from Hamburg, is presenting the Player versus Player and Guild versus Guild features in detail, today. PvP and GvG battles are – along with the compelling quests of the main story – the primary elements of “Swords and Spells” and guarantee ongoing fun in the long run.

Both single combat between two players and guild battles with up to twenty players are possible. For individual competition, the heroes simply have to look for an opponent on their level so that the battle for fame can start. Whereas for guild competition a challenge will first be declared, after which the strongest players of the guild will gather under their self-made banner and prepare for the battle. Then the fight begins: warriors from both sides look for their objectives and attack. As soon as all fighters from one faction have bitten the dust, the winner is declared..
So as not to hinder his struggle against evil in the story mode, the player will use up so called motivation instead of the usual health pool during those duels. This allows the heroes to proceed with the story, while testing their mettle and gaining glory in the arena where they can climb up the ranking table

More informations and graphics can be found on the “Swords and Spells” Facebook page: www.facebook.com/swordsandspells or on swordsandspells.com.

About Swords and Spells
Swords and Spells is a high quality mobile fantasy RPG set in the fascinating world of “Abion”. Players choose a hero and embark on a captivating journey through “Abion”, completing more than 100 missions and defeating over 90 different monsters on the way. Swords and Spells offers tons of carefully designed weapons, pieces of armour and other special items. Versatile battle and skill systems offer players a lot of strategic options as well as some heavy tactical challenges. The Unity3D-Engine in place allows for a 3D character display, in which players can experience the development of their character in real time while setting up attributes and gear for the next battle. Last but not least, this innovative mobile RPG is topped up by high quality graphics.

About XYRALITY
Xyrality is a fast growing, independent Hamburg developer and publisher consisting of 75 dedicated employees. This young company develops and markets games, which are available on smartphones and tablets as well as web browsers. The debut title “Lords & Knights”, is an innovative strategy-building-MMOG in a medieval setting. Within a few months of the publication in June 2011, Xyrality evolved to become one of the most successful start-ups in the industry. Pocketgamer.biz proclaimed Xyrality as one of the Top 50 mobile Developers of 2013 worldwide; in 2012 Xyrality featured several times in “Best of Apple’s App Store”. Today the portfolio includes five titles that have altogether been downloaded more than 10 million times; Other games are to be published soon. More information can be found at www.xyrality.com.

Rayman Fiesta Run Now Available

Luke Halliday

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November 8, 2013

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Rayman maniacs, get pumped! The fiesta has begun and Rayman is ready to run. That’s right, Rayman Fiesta Run is finally now available for download on iOS devices here and Android devices here.

The game itself is available for $2.99 on the iTunes store and $3.81 on the Google Play store. It is the sequel to the popular Rayman Jungle Run, the game which took the mobile platform by storm.

You can check out the launch trailer for Rayman Fiesta Run below to take a gander at what all the fuss is about. Be sure to pick up the game and get running because the fiesta has just begun!

The Last Door: Chapter 3 – The Four Witnesses Review

Zac Elawar

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November 8, 2013

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The Last Door: Chapter 3 – The Four Witnesses Review

The Last Door: Chapter 3 – The Four Witnesses
Developer: The Game Kitchen
Publisher: The Game Kitchen
Platforms: Mac (reviewed), PC, Linux
Release Date: Available now for backers only and for all next month
Price: By donation; free next month – Play Here

Overview

After The Letter and Memories, The Four Witnesses is the third chapter in Spanish indie developer The Game Kitchen’s point-and-click horror adventure series The Last Door. Originally funded via a Kickstarter campaign, the title has now found its way onto Steam Greenlight in hopes of broadening its reach and attaining further funding for each prospective chapter in their plans. SPOILER ALERT: This review will make reference to specific events/story beats from the last chapter/s.

Story

We continue from where we left off, with lead character Jeremiah Devitt awakening within the coffin he found himself sealed inside back at the nun-operated hospital in Scotland. Once breaking out (flimsy wood, I suppose) and gaining his bearings – somewhat – Devitt goes in search of water before exploring his immediate surroundings. He discovers his whereabouts to be Old Nichol – a dank, ominous part of Victorian London. Confused, Devitt has a single clue – a ticket to a play called ‘The Four Witnesses’. I couldn’t help feeling that the story presented here was more filler than anything else, with the chapter acting as a simple vehicle to get Devitt from one place to the next in his journey without much in the way of meaningful discovery or revelation (flashbacks aside).

Gameplay

The Four Witnesses makes use of your basic point and click controls and mechanics, with a few notable stand-outs. Firstly, there was a creative – yet upon reflection, practical – item use puzzle that had me stumped for quite a while, if only because it required some lateral thinking and we’re conditioned throughout the rest of the chapter to expect more simple, obvious solutions. Hint: Just because you can’t reach a feather, doesn’t mean you need to find a way to extend your physical reach. Secondly, there is a musical puzzle that requires you paying attention to audio clues and connecting them with a poem’s words in determining your path. Overall, I just wish there were more creative, multi-stage puzzles included.

Visuals & Audio

The dark, spooky and unsettling aesthetic of the past two chapters returns, with the London setting even darker and more disturbing than the others. If Silent Hill has taught us anything, it’s to avoid the fog. And the old trick of lighting a lantern to traverse a dark space rears its head, with frights few and far between, despite what the tense conditions and visual language would suggest. And composer Carlos Viola once again provides a chilling, period-specific orchestral score that fits the setting like a glove. If anything, silence is under-utilised in this instalment, but touches such as a simple background theme swelling and transitioning to a new, heightened section of the composition once a puzzle is completed are smooth and expertly integrated.

Overall

The Last Door: The Four Witnesses maintains the signature atmosphere that its prior chapters established, but doesn’t make many strides in actually scaring us. There is one moment of “terror” – a pop-up fright – but otherwise, not much else. Also unfortunate is the fact that the puzzles are a breeze, with a sole moment of confusion to be had throughout the whole experience (personally, of course). Still, the tone and music is consistently creepy, and there is a marked improvement in the writing and dialogue. For a free instalment, I recommend it, especially for those who have followed the tale until now.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Thor: The Dark World iOS Review

Matthew Vella

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November 8, 2013

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Thor: The Dark World iOS Review
Developer: Gameloft
Publisher: Gameloft
Platforms: iPhone (reviewed), iPad, iPod Touch, Android
Release Date: 31/10/2013
Price: Free (Available Here)

Overview

Everybody’s favourite god, (Wow I’m probably going to get in trouble for that one), Thor, is back! Marvel has struck the world like lightning with Thor: The Dark World and a mobile video game along side it. Developer Gameloft has taken a lot of risks with this title, stepping away from the expected and surprising players with a fresh take on controlling the popular Asgardian. Gameloft has been on a warpath lately when it comes to developing super hero movie tie-ins. While some have been expansive, engaging, enjoyable adventures like The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises, Thor: The Dark World follows in the footsteps of Iron Man 3 of being just another free to play casual title with great presentation and repetitive gameplay that ultimately fails at putting the “mighty” into “The Mighty Thor”.

Gameplay

Like I said earlier, Gameloft should be commended for thinking outside the box here. Thor’s stand alone video games have typically only placed him in the third-person brawler genre with disappointing God of War rip offs. Instead, Gameloft has gone a dungeon crawler inspired rout, with gameplay elements previously seen in titles like Diablo or Dungeon Hunter. Players control Thor as he runs through levels to reach the end, fighting all those who cross his path. To help him, he has an army known as Einherjar to aid him in battle and can earn (and purchase via in-app purchasing) three different currencies to help him upgrade his weapons, armour and more. Now let’s stop right there and look at how that fits into the character’s mythology.

Why the hell would Thor need to upgrade his hammer? Mjölner is meant to be one of the most powerful weapons in the Marvel cinematic universe. It rivals Captain America’s shield and not even The Hulk can pick it up. Plus he’s a god. How the hell is anybody meant to upgrade a god? It makes no sense and it’s just an excuse to put pressure on people to spend money. Furthermore, yes in the movies Thor does fight in an army, but nothing like they do in this game. AI is incredibly stupid it’s straight up embarrassing. Warriors of Asgard, defenders of the nine realms, will literally walk into fire and stand there until they die. Thor, their leader, can’t even command them. With no options or controls to control the Einherjar, all concepts of strategy or tactics are thrown completely out the window.

All the player can do is upgrade these idiots, get more idiots, and tell them to regroup every now and then. Besides that, they just march on and fight mindlessly. Furthermore health is seldom and expensive, so the player is often encouraged to fight less and play defensively, letting the suicidal Einherjar fight the battles for you. Yes, this is a unique concept to apply to the character Thor but it makes no sense. After being sick of this, I spent quite a bit of money via in-app purchasing to upgrade my character. This worked but then Thor became greatly overpowered, deleting all challenge to the game. Sure, it became a little more fun but ultimately all it really did was reenforce my original point. If you need to spend money to make the game fun that’s a sign of a bad game.

Whenever you’re not upgrading and letting the horrible AI battle, you will also be battling opponents, bosses and the game’s awkward controls. Players move Thor not via a digital analogue stick but instead but touching the screen, which is also the same way you choose who you’d like Thor to fight. This would generally be fine if it wasn’t for the fact the camera is so zoomed in you can’t see much of the map and will constantly have you accidentally touching the many on screen controls. So sometimes you’ll want to walk forwards but will end up pausing the screen or using a thunderstorm attack instead. Or maybe you want to fight an villain but instead Thor will just awkwardly stand next to him. Another awkward element of controls is throwing the Mjölner.

Tapping with two fingers, Thor will throw Mjölner. However two fingers covers a bit of space and isn’t always perfect. It’s not as awkward as movement, but it adds to the awkwardness. Even more disappointing is the fact the final world isn’t even available yet and is “coming soon”. Yeah that’s right, it’s an unfinished game you’re playing. It’s not all bad though, occasionally gameplay is broken up with defence-based levels where you need to defend a particular area, and the inclusion of allies is a nice touch as well. Also, you don’t need to finish a level to advance in the storyline, but honestly I’m just fishing for compliments here. All the merits of the gameplay aspect of Thor: The Dark World are greatly shadowed by it’s devastating flaws.

Audio & Visual

Thankfully, Gameloft has saved this game with outstanding presentation. Character models are superb and the developers have done a great job of making them look just like the actors who portray the characters on film. Textures are vibrant and animation is generally good as well. Music has all the horns and sounds you’d expect from a Thor game and while it doesn’t sound like the original actors are providing the voices, these impersonators do a spot on job. Honestly it’s the graphics and audio that make this game worth playing, and saves it from being a terribly disappointing experience to just a slightly disappointing experience.

Overall

Thor: The Dark World is sadly an average film with a below average video game. Controls are awkward, AI is terrible and the lack of controlling Einherjar doesn’t help. The concept of gameplay doesn’t seem suit the character well, the currency system is overwhelming to say the least. Sure the graphics are impressive and the audio is fantastic as well but that’ll only keep you around for so long. Still with plenty of content at hand, the fact it’s free and some nice fan service thrown in, some hardcore Marvel fans may find some redeeming qualities in this title. For everybody else however, I’ll have to put down the hammer and say nay to this one.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Deadfall Adventures: Sahara Trailer

Joshua Moris

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November 8, 2013

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Nordic Games and The Farm 51 are pleased to present the first gameplay trailer available for the coming release of Deadfall Adventures. The Sahara trailer footage showcases the journey of James Lee Quatermain (great grandson to Allen Quatermain) in the North African region as well as his encounters with the buried contents within. Enemies will make themselves ever present whether they are keeping tabs on you or surfacing out of the ground!

If you have an appreciation for action adventure stories, Deadfall Adventures would be hard to pass up. Be sure to check for this action first-person shooter in stores on November 15th for both Windows PC and Microsoft Xbox 360. Care to pre-order? Receive the digital deluxe edition for the same price as the standard edition in this Steam pre-order (here).

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Dev Diary Details Dracula

Sergei Lazarev

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November 8, 2013

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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Dev Diary Details Dracula

Konami has posted a new development diary detailing the main character Gabriel Belmont for the upcoming Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 title. Producer Dave Cox and Head of Development Enric Alvarez discuss the nature of the Gothic icon and some of their favourite Dracula movies. Check it out below

We also get an insight into the voice of Dracula, the award-winning actor Robert Caryle, and how he brought the character to life. Lords of Shadow 2 marks the first time in 27 years that gamers can play as Dracula.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is releasing on February 27 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. Konami is calling on fans to submit questions for future videos via social media in the lead up to the game’s release. A trailer was released on Halloween last week.

Star Wars: Tiny Death Star Officially Released On Mobile Devices

Frank Inglese

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November 8, 2013

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Star Wars: Tiny Death Star Officially Released On Mobile Devices

The game Tiny Towers has become insanely popular and for good reason; it plays well, it plays easy and it looks great to boot, well it seems as though Disney Interactive and LucasArts have been real interested with jumping on the bandwagon and with nothing in their way to stop them, they have. May I introduce you to “Star Wars: Tiny Death Star”, it is a game made by Tiny Towers creators NimbleBit alongside both LucasArts and Disney Interactive. The game is almost like a major update for the previous title Tiny Towers.

It plays almost exactly the same as it predecessor but with an actual great deal of upgraded features, not only are you trying to make it big in the Death Star as you run intergalactic businesses and help to create a thriving space economy, you’re also helping the Empire in it’s fight against the Rebels as you build them facilities to help manufacture weaponry and what not. A vast number of characters from the Star Wars franchise will appear in your Death Star and it’s up to you to make them feel comfortable.

With the power of the dark side, players will be able to:

Build over 80 types of Star Wars themed residential and commercial floors like Rebo’s Karaoke and Cloud City Spa.
Attract more than 30 unique species including Wookiees, Ewoks, and more.
Create top-secret underground Imperial levels to craft special supplies and aid the Empire in its battle against the Rebel Alliance.
Capture Rebel spies such as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and more before they can escape.
Unlock new cut scenes featuring iconic Star Wars characters including Han Solo, Chewie, Jabba the Hutt, and more.

There is so much to do and so much to see in Star Wars: Tiny Death Star and now seeing as it is finally available for almost all mobile devices (iOS and Android) you’ll be able to experience the joy of running your very own Death Star first hand. For those of you who havn’t rushed to the virtual stores to grab yourselves a copy we not only have a gallery full of images for the game but also a short trailer that will hopefully get you in the mood for some 8-bit Star Wars gaming. You can grab the iOS version here, the Google Play version here, the Windows version here and the Windows Phone version here. The game will be coming to the Amazon store in the near future but no exact date has been announced as of yet, stay tuned for it though!

Fire Emblem’s Marth To Return To Super Smash Bros.

Frank Inglese

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November 8, 2013

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Fire Emblem’s Marth To Return To Super Smash Bros.

Yes you heard right, Nintendo has confirmed it and it’s going to be great! All you Fire Emblem fans can, once again, jump with joy at the fact that our old friend Marth will be returning to the Super Smash Brothers stage in the franchise’s next generation of mixed-series brawling. He’s smooth, he’s cool and like a lot of other characters in the game he’s blue! Sonic, Megaman and Marth can now fight for ownership of the colour because Marth has decided that he’s still got more fight in him.

With the release of Fire Emblem: Awakening I would have thought that one of the characters from that game would make an appearance but I guess the folks over at Nintendo couldn’t put Marth to bed just yet, could that also mean Ike or Roy will make a return? Who knows as of yet, what we do know is that he’s looking fantastic in HD and we’ve got some incredible in-game screenshots below for you all to admire. The comments section is always open for discussion and, like always, we’d love to hear who you think should be in this game and, in fact, what you think of the next Super Smash Brothers in general. Enjoy the images!

Chronos Commandos #5 Preview

Frank Inglese

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November 8, 2013

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It’s had a good run up until this point but unfortunately the first part of the Chronos Commandos miniseries is coming to an end in this issues, that’s OK though because it is going out with a bang! Everything has been leading up to this point in time; Sarge and Richter brawl over the stolen Chronosphere Core as two Einsteins frantically work their “magic” as they try their darnedest to fix the overheating Time Reactor. Reality itself is about to collapse and it seems as though Sarge may not make it back home.

Twists and turns will come from left and right as this crazy comic skids across the finish line and, fortunately for you, we have some preview images for you all to take a gander at before you pick up the comic itself. Chronos Commandos is a comic written and illustrated by Stuart Jennet (Published by Titan Comics) and Issue 5 is set for a release on the 13th of November 2013 for $3.99 at all good comic book stores.

Wii Sports Club Launches With Tennis And Bowling

Joe Morgan

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November 8, 2013

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Nintendo‘s famous Wii Sports franchise has finally released its newest iteration. Sort of. Available for the Wii U, Wii Sports Club will present remastered versions of sports from the original Wii pack-in title, exclusively on the Nintendo eShop.

Starting today, November 8, Tennis and Bowling will be available from launch. You can join up online to play against some other folks from around the world while enjoying your Miis in high definition! It also makes use of the Wii MotionPlus technology for added precision!

You can buy permanent versions of each sport for AUD$13.00 (NZD$17.00) or get a Day Pass for AUD$2.60 (NZD$3.40) that unlocks every game for 24 hours. For the full breakdown, check out the Iwata Asks interview here.