If you’re a seasoned Anime fan that likes to keep up-to-date with the latest titles then I’m sure that you know of a little Anime called “Kill La Kill” and, whether you’ve been watching it or not, you’ll know that it is a compressed ball of crazy that will never stop bouncing. Now “Kill La Kill” is done produced by Studio Trigger, a studio filled with former Gainax employees who worked on other high-octane shows like “Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann” and “Panty And Stocking With Garterbelt”, fans of THOSE shows will know to try and take notice of everything on screen because a single blink could have you miss something fun and fantastic, which actually brings me to the point of this article.
Episode 4 of Kill La Kill titled “Dawn of a Miserable Morning” had a few little, well-known cameos in the background of one of it’s many crazed chase scenes, the characters shown were from the cult-classic Tarantino film “Pulp Fiction”. I actually cannot make this kind of stuff up! If you look closely during the scene where Mako’s Dad, Brother and their dog Guts are racing to get Senketsu to Ryoku you may be able to see Uma Thurman’s, Bruce Willis’, John Travolta’s and Samuel L. Jackson’s characters from the movie. While it, essentially, adds absolutely nothing to the story it does add a sense of excitement for viewers like me who are fans of both the Anime and the movie. It’s quirky, it’s fun and in the end it’s just making the series all that greater!
Crunchyroll have just made a major announcement regarding the future of their service. For years now, they have been known as the premier location for legal anime streaming, now they plan to take a major step forward for manga with the introduction of ‘Crunchyroll Manga‘.
The new ‘Crunchyroll Manga’ service will provide users of the site with legal manga reading, starting from October 30th, 2013. Kodansha Comics have announced their support of the service and will be providing Crunchyroll with 12 manga titles at launch, with a projected 50 titles added by Summer 2014. The following series will be available at launch:
It is certainly an impressive line-up for the service. Crunchyroll Manga will be available on multiple platforms, including computers, iOS devices and Android devices. The service will be availble to free users with ads and for Crunchyroll All-Access members without adds for a minimal fee.
Perhaps the biggest bit of news is that this service will be available in over 170 countries world-wide. Crunchyroll has yet to confirm all of the countries, but it is pretty likely that your country will be included given the immense number of regions it is available in.
Crunchyroll Manga launches on October 30th, 2013. Stay tuned for further updates on the service as it comes to light.
Fright Heights Developer:REDspace Publisher:Chillingo Platforms: iOS (Reviewed) Release Date: October 24, 2013 Price: Free – Available Here
Overview
There comes a time each year when packing in the ghosts and goblins actually seems seasonal. Some of the braver folks venture to the theater or their local movie collection and subject themselves to the most horrific, heart-pounding media they can. Luckily, Chillingo and REDspace are aiming to put you in the roll of scare commander just in time for Halloween. How is Fright Heights? Is it scary good or should it be locked in the monster closet forever? Let’s find out.
Gameplay
In a world where people are daft beyond belief (or easily subject to playground dares), everyone wants to stay in the hotels you’re in charge of. Beyond simply being creepy, many of these towers of terror are are in shambles, with rooms completely missing from some floors and more. Your job is to instruct your cadre of ghastly haunts and furious frighteners where to embed themselves and then, when there are enough guests on their floor, they need to frighten them all away!
At its heart, Fright Heights is a fairly straightforward puzzle game. You’ll have to work your way up fifty different towers which are basically just vertical grids. Along the way, the layout of each tower will change. Various levels of decay will have affected the buildings in different ways, giving you unique terrain to have to work through. You’ll only be dealing with five floors at a time and as you clear them from the bottom up.
Each floor has a required number of fright points that must be achieved to clear the floor. As you play, you’ll be pulling from a queue that contains both hotel guests and various fiends. Each scarer has a grid around them that shows how many fright points they contribute and where. For instance, a phantasmal chef may contribute one fright point to the room directly above and below him and two fright points to the rooms on either side of him. When guests are then placed in those rooms, they’re affected by the fright points. When you get enough required for the bottom floor, all of those guests will be scared away, the bottom floor will drop off the screen, and the next floor will come into view.
There is a deeper level of strategy involved in the game on top of simply setting and clearing the hotels. Nothing moves until the bottom visible floor is cleared. If you work at it, though, you can go ahead and scare the crap out of the other 4 floors. Then, when you complete the bottom floor, it will generate a combo, granting you bonus points as well as rapidly filling a “talisman bar” that can be redeemed for special ghouls that help out in tight situations.
There is a lot of gameplay available here. With 50 levels, you’ll be busy for a while if you get hooked on the game. On top of that, each level abides by the 3-star system, so perfectionists can go back for better scores if they want.
While the game is solid overall, there are one or two things about it that can really get under your skin. First, the talismans, while helpful in tight situations, can quickly run out. To replace them, you have to spend “Boo-Bucks.” It’s not overtly egregious, but a single talisman use will cost you 50,000 boo-bucks, which can take you 10+ levels to earn. Apart from the standard freemium complaints, though, is the Facebook integration. If you aren’t interested in giving your Facebook permission for this game, it will beat you to death with it. When you fire the game up and after every level they will remind you to plug up with Facebook. They even tell you it’s easy to turn off later. It’s impossible to turn off the notifications if they’re not tied together, though. It’s infuriating and completely unnecessary for the game.
Visuals & Audio
The visual style for Fright Heights is cute and cartoony. Even with what could be considered more macabre source material, REDspace have done a great job keeping the game kid friendly and inviting. It feels like it would be right at home alongside gradeschool Halloween coloring books.
The music in the game feels reminiscent of something out of Disney’s Hocus Pocus or Honey I Shrunk the Kids. The orchestral track is upbeat but maintains that air of the otherworldly. It’s fun and thematic. The sound effects do a fair job as well – screams and other such effects help keep the Halloween feel alive without being too shrill or offputting.
Overall
Overall, Fright Heights is a solid puzzle game with plenty to keep you busy. The cute visual style and solid audio do a good job of drawing you into the lighthearted horror world. An egregious, annoying press for social media will continually keep you frustrated if you don’t want to submit to their whims. With a free price tag, though, you could keep your kids entertained without worry. Just make sure they don’t want to buy any Boo-Bucks.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Independent studio Fusty Game partner up with another independent studio Midgar Studio, who have a successful launch of ‘The Secret of Space Octopuses’, for the creation of a new game “Hover: The Revolt of Gamers”. The game is a futuristic 3D free runner set in a open-world and is available for all the latest platforms ranging between PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Wii U, Pc, Mac and Linux.
It is noted that the game is inspired by Jet Set Radio, Mirror’s Edge and Spiderman. In ‘Hover’ you play as a other-worldly Gamer Team who are in opposition to the dictatorship. Using a special high-tech suit with amazing features, the gamers unify themselves to fight the oppression and propaganda and the video games by jumping and sliding at high speed,
The game has be described as being totally immersive. The game can be play in solo mode or multiplayer to create different experiences with the capabilities to recruit friends and new players to win against the dictatorship!
If you can’t get enough of science fiction shmups then Meridian 4 has a present for you. Syder Arcade is now available on Steam for PC and Mac, and is currently sitting with a lovely discount that brings the game down to $7.99 – a one week only deal.
Developed by Studio Evil, Syder Arcader made a brief appearnce in a shmup bundle earlier this year before going through the Steam Greenlight process. It is an old school affair with simple but challenging gameplay and 20 different retro graphic styles. Featuring ‘disgusting aliens’ and ‘super serious’ characters, it also has 4 difficulty levels, a survival mode and 6 campaign levels.
The developers plan on supporting the game with additional content in 2014, most likely in the form of additional levels and ships. You can check out the launch trailer for the game below.
Indie game label Midnight City has announced that The Bridge, a 2D puzzle game, is coming to Xbox Live for the Xbox 360. The game is set to feature hand-drawn, black and white environments and head-scratching physics challenges in line with unique titles like Braid and Limbo. Check out the screenshots below.
Players have the ability to control the world around the protagonist, strategically placing architectural designs in order to achieve success in 48 levels. You will have to contend with “The Menace”, gravitational vortexes and parallel universes that add further gameplay twists.
Game features include being able to rewind time to experiment with the problem-solving process, a secret ending on a second playthrough and a minimalistic control scheme.
The Bridge is releasing on November 13 for Xbox Live with a price tag of $9.99, while it is also available on Steam for $14.99. Visit the official site for more info.
Another win for indie development as Defense Technica has been unleashed onto Steam this week. Growing developer Kuno Interactive alongside Devolver Digital are pleased to reveal the PC and MAC release of their latest tower defense title. Boasting a challenge for hardcore RTS junkies, Defense Technica promotes the building of defensive units to protect a single power core in a sci-fi fashion. In a world that has been taken over by extremists and most of humanity decimated, you are challenged to build and protect what remains.
Courtesy of Devolver Digital, a trailer has been made available for the public. Let us know what you think in the comments below. If you buy before October 31st you will receive a 10% discount!
The Wii U often suffers with third party support, since its launch last year it has typically gotten ports of older games with a few additional features. Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director’s Cut goes one step further, bringing with it not only the entire Deus Ex: Human Revolution experience to Nintendo for the first time, but giving it a slew of additional features like DLC, more balanced and altered boss fights, and even some lighting and texture tweaks, and Gamepad functionality to make this version of Human Revolution the best the series has to offer.
Story
Deus Ex: Human Revolution puts you in the shoes of Adam Jensen, an ex-SWAT officer who is now private security for a large biotechnology company, Sarif Industries. One day when Sarif is attacked, Jensen is practically killed and his on again-off again girlfriend Dr. Megan Reed is captured (suspiciously when she was about to announce her latest breakthrough in human augmentation). Jensen is then fitted with the company’s top of the line augmentation prostetics (including a bitchin’ pair of shades that come out of his face) and returns to work when a Sarif Industries warehouse is attacked.
After infiltrating the warehouse and neutralizing the terrorists responsible, Jensen starts globe trotting in search of the group behind the attack, and where Dr. Reed is being kept. The crux of the game takes place in two main areas; Detroit and Shanghai’s Heng Sha. As you play through the game you will unlock more information that will unravel the secrets and story of the game. Much of this info comes from the game’s side-missions, which although optional, do provide a lot of context to the world of Deus Ex.
The story is set in a time before the original Deus Ex game, so the world is still coming to terms with human augmentation. There is a lot of symbolism within Deus Ex, and anyone willing to dig hard enough could extrapolate it and create countless essays on its portrayal of the ethics of modern medicine. However, it is not important to deconstruct the plot’s meaning to enjoy the game, and if you just want to enjoy the globe-trotting super soldier trying to save his ex, then you certainly can.
Gameplay
The original Deus Ex: Human Revolution was an open ended, multi-faceted RPG/Shooter that allowed you to build and customise your version of Adam to play how you wanted to play. If you want to play it as a typical FPS then go ahead, is stealth combat more your style, then you can do that too. Nothing much has changed with the overall gameplay for the Dirctor’s Cut, as you are still given the freedom of choice when it comes to your character and how you approach the game. This open-endedness really helps separate the game from others in the same genre, while also encourages replayability.
In the original Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the boss fights were seen by many as the weakest part of the game. Not only did they feel out of place to the whole experience, but they also spat in the face of the game’s freedom of choice, heavily favoring players who had built their Adam to be a gun’s blazing Rambo-style character, whole stealth/hack builds were forgotten. This game rectifies that problem, and features some tweaks to the boss battles (some of them more substantial than others). These tweaks and alterations allow for greater balance, and don’t typically favor any one particular play style. A simple fix such as this goes a long way to improving the game overall, and makes these boss encounters feel like they truly belong.
The game also contains the entire DLC storyline ‘The Missing Link,’ which is integrated so seamlessly into the plot of Deus Ex that if you didn’t already know, you wouldn’t realise that it was originally an added extra. The Missing Link campaign adds about four hours of playtime, and resets your stats and skills to the beginning, allowing you to play around with builds and skills that you otherwise weren’t using, all without hindering screwing with the character you spent hours building to perfection.
The Gamepad is a fantastic asset to this game, as it allows for a lot of clutter that was once on the tv screen. Although it is a common occurrence with Wii U titles, having the game’s map on the second screen is really beneficial to the overall experience. Firstly getting it off of your main screen means it is readily accessible at all times, without imposing on gameplay. Not only that, but it makes locating nearby enemies a tonne easier, as the icons are now much larger and much clearer on this second screen.
The game is not without its faults however, and many of these actually stem from the Gamepad integration. Firstly the Gamepad’s rumble option very quickly gets tiresome. Having your controller shake violently every time you pull the trigger of a gun is problematic, especially when you are using a machine gun or other quick firing weapon. Also the touchscreen it self feels unresponsive. This is especially true when navigating menu’s or tutorial hint screens. There is a button that allows you to return to the game, but pressing it often does nothing. After several failed attempts, I usually (and frustratingly) reached for my stylus get back into the action. The fact that the touch screen is unresponsive during these sections is made all the more annoying by the fact that you can’t simply press B to exit out of them.
Visuals
It is hard to talk about the visuals for Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Although the game looks visually appealing, it is still somewhat outdated. Despite the fact that the original came out only 2 years ago, a lot has changed and improved in the way that games are presented since then. Since this is still the same game, not much has actually changed for the presentation, so characters, weapons and landscapes all look the same as they did back then. What has improved is the lighting. Lighting here is more dynamic and fluid which helps to shape the environments and characters better, but also add a sense of realism and immersion to the game.
I can’t be too harsh with Deus Ex though, as for its time it was a technical masterpiece. Individually designed NPCs, and furniture and locations all intricately crafted and placed into the world. Even some secret areas and hidden pathways that the majority of players would never see are all unique and stand out. Deus Ex really stands apart from other games that might reuse the same textures or objects time and time again.
One can’t talk about how Deus Ex: Human Revolution looks without mentioning its distinctive black and gold colour scheme. In a day and age where a lot of games stick to blander colours, the frequent appearance of warmer yellows and golds, really helps the black-clad Adam really stand out.
In-game visuals are definitely the most important, but there is still something to be said about the pre-rendered cut scenes. Square Enix published games are typically filled with amazing looking cinematics, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution is no exception to this. Everything looks smooth and polished, and in many cases, downright real. In fact, it would be easy to just enjoy a Deus Ex film made with the visual quality of the cut scenes.
Audio
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is by and large a story-driven game, and that means that a lot of emphasis is put on the voice acting to tell that story. Luckuly, the voice crew in Human Revolution pull off a fantastic job. Each character is unique, distinct and believable and most of this comes down to their voices. Jensen has that hardened ex-cop sound that you would expect, while Frank Pritchard (the game’s resident IT expert) has that cocky, arrogant swagger that his character needed.
While voice acting is important, it can’t be overstated how good the game sounds while you are playing it. Guns go off realistically, with pistols and shotguns sounding how they would in real life. While the more futuristic weaponry takes some liberties, they never sound like toys. The noise of the weapons adds to the realism of the game. Not only do the weapons sound great, but shattering windows and other background noises are all pulled off to near perfection, allowing for a game that sounds as good as it plays.
Overall
Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director’s Cut takes an already great game and makes it better. From the integration of the Missing Link DLC campaign, and small improvements to things such as lighting lighting, to massive game-changers like the use of the Wii U’s Gamepad, and altered boss battles, Deus Ex has taken a massive step forward. It has its problems, from somewhat outdated visuals, to the Gamepad’s incessant desire to rumble every time you fire a bullet. It is a great package of a great game, and while there isn’t much new here for people who have already purchased it, there is still a lot to like and a lot of reasons to pick this one up.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Stunning, yet dangerous – the Caribbean Sea in 1715 was the perfect playground for pirates; none more-so than Captain Edward Kenway, in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. After getting our hands on the Naval & Fort demo at the EB Games Expo 2013, Ubisoft Australia invited us to experience an extended open world demo of the PlayStation 4 version, where we made new eternal enemies with a certain aquatic life-form…
Jumping straight into command of the Jackdaw, we soon docked at the Andreas Island port. Now, you may have seen some of the interactions described here in a previously released video walkthrough by the developer, but overall, we spent an hour+ roaming the seas and exploring beyond the key locations featured in said video. To begin with, however, we are immediately shown that our presence is unwelcome and proceed to engage in a familiar bar-fight. The hand-to-hand combat system shares 95% of the former titles’ DNA, until the multiple swords and pistols come into play. That being said, don’t expect a lazy inclusion of past animations; Edward has some new, visually brutal finishers up his sleeve.
Everything costs Reais (Brazilian real) in the West Indies, from a simple drink to upgrading your ship, gathering information and recruiting crew members. In regards to the latter, that is of course unless you board an enemy ship and absorb their crew into yours, or rescue a drowning/wayward drifting privateer out of the deadly ocean. Alongside taverns and viewpoints, assassin contracts are strewn throughout the various islands. After accepting one on Andreas island, the Templar target promptly sails in with his “entourage” on what appeared to be a gold-painted ship. Visible from the bay, but out of shooting range, we chose to have some fun and blow a berserk dart in the neck of one of the guards at the bottom of the boardwalk.
Although hidden among some shrubbery, the erratic behaviour of the guard scared off the target, who sailed off at top speed. We gave chase, leading into some naval combat. This go around – as opposed to our Naval & Fort playthrough – we made sure to utilise the mortar for high damage. That being said, we didn’t want to completely destroy the frigate so that we could properly pillage it for resources upon boarding, which is something players will have to constantly consider should they require resources, man-power or repairs – your three options upon victory. The best way to avoid accidentally destroying an opposing ship is to shoot chain shots at their masts by aiming down the Jackdaw’s bow and firing with ‘R2’.
The player always has options when it comes to tackling different activities, which is one of our most appreciated aspects of the game. As a more minute example, we decided to take out the Templar target by way of our swivel gun stationed at the railings of the Jackdaw. Imagine taking a cannonball right to the gut… he can’t, because he’s dead (got a little gruesome there, geez). Otherwise, a full frontal assault, assassination by air and other various means are possible in accomplishing the same goal. In staying on topic with naval warfare, when attacking particular colonial ships, other objectives may arise, such as “destroying” their flag… destroying is in quotation marks because Edward disappointingly unties it and lets it drop, though the prompt says “destroy”. Where’s the dramaticism?! Burn it I say!
Moving on, we came across the Antocha Wreck. In relation to points of interest found during naval navigation, dockable zones are signified by a highlighted patch. In the case of shipwrecks like these, holding “O” to do so will initiate the release of the Diving Bell – provided you have acquired it, as it is not unlocked from the very beginning. Edward then dives on after it, submerging himself inside it where pockets of air allow him to catch his breath and remain safe from the vicious sea creatures surrounding him. Once you leave the bell, there are also Air Barrels which allow a one-time use refill of oxygen, which becomes necessary if you attempt to find and loot all 7 treasure chests in the vicinity in one fell swoop.
The underwater gameplay is entirely unique, with the abilities to lunge up using “X” and boost off of broken masts and hard surfaces for the purpose of a quick escape from the pesky great white, or to just cover larger ground in getting from one treasure to another. When hidden, Edward’s colour fades much like when you are blending in amongst crowds on land. Seaweed can also be used for stealthy cover from predators, although with so few video games implementing this sort of variation in underwater segments, we found ourselves instinctively (and stupidly) ignoring them as purely dressing/level decoration. Even more frustrating than the persistent sharks were the sneaky moray eels… our new mortal enemy. Time after time, we got surprised and bitten by the overgrown piranha wannabes… yeah, we said it!
Satisfied with 6 out of 7 chests looted, we resurfaced from the Diving Bell – which also rejuvenates health – and returned to the Jackdaw. Notice the aforementioned animus fragments, by the way? Consider them the new collectible in the vain of feathers and the like… what they unlock upon completion (if anything), we don’t know. We are holding out for a First Civilisation memory like ‘The Truth’ found in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. Now, you’d think we’d want nothing to do with sharks any more after being mercilessly munched on, but you’d be wrong. Time to go harpooning we thought! This is the moment where you call PETA on us… oh, they already complained? Typical…
Clicking in the Dualshock 4’s touch pad brings up our map, which we can then manoeuvre around with the movement of our finger. Pinch and zoom functionality has also been implemented in order to get in tight or blow-up the view of the map. Sensitivity was high when using the touch pad – which is completely optional – although we are assured that, just like a mouse’s sensitivity can be changed in the options menu on a PC game, so too can the touch pad’s. We spot a shark harpooning opportunity in the distance, but it’s not for any common shark… it’s a flippin’ hammerhead! We were so ecstatic at the chance to catch the rarity, that Edward incited the crew to start singing their favourite sea shanty, of which there are many the player can choose from using the D-Pad whilst sailing.
Once we arrived at the spot and landed our first harpoon, the hammerhead makes sharp turns in direction, frantically trying to break free, which it eventually does (on numerous occasions). After a number of violent rams by the angry fish, and a mighty struggle, we dramatically fell the beast with our final remaining harpoon, of which we started off with 20. A short cut-scene rolls, displaying the crew hoisting it up in celebration. The appropriate resources were then allocated. Apparently the hammerhead was double the size of the usual shark inhabitants… we’re pros, that’s all. Which is precisely why we then felt confident enough to sail right into a brewing storm. Okay, it ended up just being a heavy blanket of fog, but we were fearless nonetheless!
Before finishing our demo by witnessing the Spanish and the British warring on the beaches of a Salt Lagoon, we wanted to tackle the Jiguey Cave. On the trip there, we picked up some floating loot, lost a man overboard (at least we think… we just saw a guy randomly drop from the sky!) and had a run-in with some pirate hunters. These nasty pieces of work are basically the law of the sea… blood-red dyed ships that can take an explosive barrel head on like it was nothing and continue the pursuit, which is exactly what happened. In our case, luck was on our side as we evaded them with relative ease and continued on our merry, drunken way – still singing too. Soon enough, we arrived at the smuggler’s den that is Jiguey Cave.
We deftly approached with a stealthy sub-surface swim before climbing a rickety structure, picking up an errant explosive barrel and throwing it down at two unsuspecting smugglers. This sent the other half dozen or so into inspection mode, but to no avail. We progressed in taking them out, one-by-one, by air, berserk darts, melee takedowns (the helpful whistle from cover is back!), hidden blade attacks and executions from shrubbery – it was an expert display of skill if we do say so ourselves. It’s actually a surprise to even us, after hearing how loud the echo was in the place… it was ridiculous! Grab a handhold on a climbing surface and the sound reverberates as if you stomped on the wooden floorboards with all your might.
Amidst the chests and animus fragments was a ‘Secret’, which turned out to be a message in a bottle on the shore outside the cave’s entrance. Unfortunately, we could not access the full menu in this unfinished build to see what it exactly pertained to, but we believe it to be a part of a map to a hidden location somewhere in the world. Speaking of, completed areas are marked on the world map by their white-turned-golden hue so that you know where you’ve been and what’s left to accomplish/visit. The West Indies is broken into sections as well. Without discernible borders, the name of the territory at the top of the screen will change to identity them, with the difficulty level of each scrawled to its right.
And so our extensive session with Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flagcame to a close, and we left genuinely more excited than ever to pick it up when it releases in a mere 3 days, on November 29. It goes without saying that the PlayStation 4 version looks astonishingly good. Its combination of all the better elements from past titles (although we miss the historical glyph puzzles from Brotherhood) with the always charismatic, magnetic theme of pirate life, is proving a winning one. This could quite possibly be the greatest Assassin’s Creed entry yet. In fact, we’ll bet our peg-legs and gold teeth on it. Now we must wait for release to discover the intriguing – and so far missing link – the present-day gameplay at Abstergo Entertainment. Stay tuned to Capsule Computers for our full review soon.
We have 3 Razer Hammerhead In-Ear Headphones to give away to 3 lucky people! Valued at $69.9 AUD, the Razer Hammerhead deliver exceptional Bass and sound quality with unmatched style!
For a chance to win, all you have to do to enter is answer the following question in the comments section below:
What will you listen to or play while using the Razer Hammerhead if you won?
We’re looking for the most creative/funny answers, REMEMBER to leave a valid email address in the ’email’ input box when choosing a name to comment with. Those who login to Disqus with their Facebook accounts need not do so. Winners will be chosen and notified on November 2nd.
