No developer has been quite as busy as Creative Assembly lately. In what must have been the biggest post-launch hangover in recent times, they’ve been slaving away, ridding Total War: Rome II of its numerous bugs and issues. Despite this, other post-launch plans are still going ahead with the release of the Seleucid Empire Pack for free and a Steam Workshop Mode Update.
The Seleucid Empire are renowned for their civil engineering and make use of professional cavalry regiments. The free update features unique units, building and tech trees as well as a new wonder, the Paradise of Daphne.
Equally as important, the fifth major patch is included as well promising to fix more performance issues and improve gameplay balancing. Notable fixes include faster Campaign AI decision-making, a loading auto-save crash and Campaign UI optimisation that improve frame rates. For full patch notes you can visit here.
Also included is Steam Workshop support and activation of the mod manager in the Total War Launcher. Be sure to check out our review of the strategy game from last month.
Sony‘s Worldwide Studios has released some brand new information on the world and characters of Knack – a premier first-party launch title for the PlayStation 4. Knack harkens back to the good ol’ days of Crash Bandicootand Spyro the Dragon, and for more than a few reasons – of particular note, all three IP’s were helped in being brought to life by Mark Cerny (Director of Knack), who is also the Lead System Architect on the PlayStation 4.
We played an early build of the title at the EB Games Expo 2013, which felt like a PG-rated God of War in respect to certain gameplay conventions and level structure. The game feature 2-player local co-op (which will be detailed at a later time), with a narrative told through 90 minutes of fully mo-capped cinematics dealing with Knack becoming the world’s “secret weapon” against a goblin threat, and the origins of the mysterious ancient relics that power everything on the planet. Below you will find brief descriptions of each main character; check out the gallery at the bottom of this article for screens, not only of them, but of general gameplay and the various forms of Knack himself.
Doctor – Knack’s creator is a genius but can be moody and impetuous at times. He also raised Lucas since the boy’s parents died, so he’s pulling double duty as a father figure. Although he’s not always good at it…
Ryder – Lucas’ uncle is a brave adventurer and explorer who is invaluable to the mission to defeat the goblins.
Lucas – Very level headed for such a young age, and Knack’s best friend.
Viktor – A billionaire industrialist who makes his fortune mining the ancient relics that provide power for electricity, machinery, vehicles and more. He brings his powerful robots on the expedition to discover more about the goblin threat.
Katrina – Viktor’s head of security, she’s tough and composed no matter what occurs.
Metal Knack – Very tough and powerful (and my favourite), but being made of metal also means you’re magnetic. Which can lead to some interesting problems!
Wood Knack – one of the biggest versions of Knack in the game. And while wood is easy to find, it does burn easily! That said, if you are on fire you can use that to access some extra areas…
With the next Pokemon movie on it’s way over to Australia, Beyond Entertainment (who hold the rights to distribution down here) and Hoyts Cinemas will be hosting special preview screenings all across Australia and New Zealand for Pokemon The Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened. The actual DVD release of the movie is set for the 4th of December and will retail for $19.95 but big fans of the Pokemon franchise will be able to see the movie early by heading to a selected Hoyts Cinema on either Saturday the 16th of November at 1pm or Sunday the 17th of November also at 1pm.
– A List Of Participating Cinemas –
As you may have noticed, some of the cinemas around the country will also be hosting a special Pokemon TCG (Trading Card Game) demonstration that will happen at the selected locations before the feature actually begins so if you’re a fan of the TCG or you think you may want to try getting into the game I suggest you head to those particular locations early to check it out. To coincide with the release of the movie there will also be the “Grand Pokemon Contest” which Beyond Entertainments in partnership with Banter Toys and Collectibles, Nintendo and Tomy have organised. They plan to give away a huge Pokemon prize pack worth $2,300 with 10 runner-ups getting the 16th Pokemon Movie on DVD. The competition will be closing on November the 24th at 5:00pm and prizes will be drawn on the 27th of November at 1:00pm. You can enter the competition on the Grand Pokemon Contest website here.
Now, just as a reminder to everyone; the special Pokemon The Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened movie screenings will be held at several, specific Hoyts Cinemas around Australia and New Zealand on the 16th and 16th of November at 1pm with certain locations holding a Pokemon Trading Card Game demonstration before the movie screening, the DVD release of the movie is set for the 4th of December and will retail for $19.95. The 16th Pokemon movie isn’t too far away from hitting our shores so get geared up, start training your Pokemon pals and get ready for the awesomeness that is Pokemon The Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened.
Ethan: Meteor Hunter Developer: Seaven Studio Publisher: Seaven Studio Platforms: PC (reviewed), PlayStation 3 Release Date: 22 October, 2013 Price: $9.90 – Available Here
Overview
French independent developers Seaven Studio have a lot riding on Ethan: Meteor Hunter. After the closure of Hydravision Entertainment in 2012, a handful of the team got their life savings together and formed Seaven Studio. Taking the indie plunge allowed them to keep Ethan: Meteor Hunter alive, and the game marks the first release of the newborn studio.
A puzzle platformer with a telekinetic mouse as its star, Ethan boasts fifty levels over the course of three different game worlds, with a variety of play styles to mix up the action. There’s an even balance between the puzzle and platform elements of the game, and as it is swift to tell you, “Winners don’t use drugs. They use a gamepad”.
Gameplay
The first thing to say is pay attention to that warning about the gamepad. Whilst the mouse and keyboard does work it is by no means as comfortable or as fluid as using an Xbox 360 or PS3 controller – for the best experience plug in!
As well as the usual jump and move staples Ethan also has the ability to slide, and somewhat more unusually, stop time and move objects with his mind. The ability is limited by the number of pause tokens that the player picks up, and not every object can be chucked around at will. Instead Ethan can only move certain objects within a given area, and uses up a token every time time is stopped and an object is moved.
The developers have made great use of the mechanic, throwing in numerous different gameplay styles that range from Professor Layton like block shifting puzzles to switching around platforms with precision timing. Any gaffs are quickly erased by a nifty rewind button that takes you back to the nearest checkpoint, and the ability to rotate objects is sapped of frustration by being able to snap them into the more useful angles. The physics system is very precise, and together with the tricky nature of the level design demands the full attention of the player – some of the puzzles may not be kiddie friendly and the degree of accuracy that some of the block shifting demands can be a little frustrating.
Ethan: Meteor Hunter is one of those platformers that can produce a great deal of frustration, but it is frustration of the best kind- a “I’m going to get past this if it’s the last thing I do!” kind of feeling. Whilst it starts off in a fairly kind way, the game quickly builds the challenge level -it throws in plenty of unexpected pitfalls and seemingly impossible set ups, as well as pogo stick and flying levels and chase sequences to keep players on their toes.
Puzzles and platforming sections alike are made more complex by the fact that wooden platforms will burn, metals ones will conduct electricity and some will fall apart upon landing. Timing is a must, and the puzzles are demanding enough to fire up the old grey matter.
As one trailer of the game is keen to point out, there are many and more ways to die in Ethan: Meteor Hunter. And unless players have ninja like reaction times, Vulcan logic and more luck than the Irish there is no way some of the later levels are not going to electrocute, squash, shred or otherwise kill off poor old Ethan at least five times a pop. Thankfully the check points are fair and respawning is quick, so it is very easy to just keep going – timer be damned!
As well as being ranked by time, every level also dishes out ratings based on how many pause tokens are used and the number of meteor fragments collected. The fragments can often be scattered in places that require extremely well timed platforming skills, so bundle that with some block puzzles that simply aren’t going to be cracked instantly and there is plenty of reason to revisit the levels.
Visuals
Ethan is a side scrolling platformer with a simple cartoon style reminiscent of Little Big Planet. Whilst not as detailed as Craftworld there are still some dynamic touches to the backgrounds and levels that give each of the three worlds a distinct theme. The presentation is clear and crisp, and although Ethan isn’t the most complex character model he still gets some funny death animations that add a touch of personality to the game. But why does he fall asleep so quickly? When new gameplay elements like electricity or mousetraps are introduced the visuals make the new ideas easy to grasp without the need for pace killing tutorials, allowing players to get on with the business of dying in new and unexpected ways!
Audio
The audio elements of Ethan: Meteor Hunter are solid. The effects and the music have a bit of a sci fi bent to them, and the themes for each level match up with the visual motifs of the three worlds. The music has some bounce to it which grows as you progress through the level. What the game is lacking is any vocalisation for Ethan, as kooky as his death animations are it would have been great to have some exclamations to go with them to give him a bit more personality. As it is the game is a little lacking in that department, but it’s a forgiveable slight given how good the rest of it is.
Overall
Ethan: Meteor Hunter is a great puzzle platformer that at it’s best is reminescent of Crash Bandicoot. Inject Ethan with a little more pizzazz and give the whole thing more story and humour and Seaven Studio could have a real treat on their hands. The telekinesis mechanic is implemented extremely well and the difficulty will keep even seasoned platformers on their toes. The gameplay and execution are top notch, all Ethan needs is a little more flavour.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Much like a similar video that came before this one, Namco Bandai have begun streaming a new 4-minute video of the upcoming Naruto game; Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst which, if you don’t know what it is, is basically a “director’s cut” version of the original game by the same title, bar the “Full Burst“. While in it’s most fundamental form it is a director’s cut release it also has been upgraded a great deal from the title that came before it, be it aesthetics, gameplay, audio, etc. Within the freshly-released video we see a side-by-side comparison of the two releases with Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 being on the left-hand side and Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst on the right hand side. Watching through this video you pick up a lot of the little tweaks and changes that, in the long run, add a whole other layer to this game.
Naruto Ultimate Ninja 3 Full Burst will offer additions to the original game like; a whole new story chapter, Kabuto as a playable character, 100 new missions, 38 more costumes and so much more. I can imagine that fans of the original release will be quite excited to see something like this with all those extras bundled together. It is set for a release in North America on October the 22nd yet, as of right now, I do not believe Australia has a set date. It will be released on the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360 and for PCs with people already owning the original game being able to solely upgrade their game at a lower price but, once again at this point in time, there has been no information on how drastic of a price drop it will be. For now you can watch the full comparison video for Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst below in our featured video section.
A recent New York Times article suggested that the video game industry is going the way of the dinosaurs thanks to mobile gaming. Not so says Australia. A study published by Digital Australia 2014 in conjunction with Bond University has found that 7 out of 10 Australians are gamers, with a majority of the population getting their daily dose of gaming from a console, not just a mobile device or tablet.
That surprising stat is one of the many that has been crammed into the infographic below which sums up some of the findings of the report. In fact it has a lot of information that gamers can use to defend their hobby from the usual suspects- the majority of games released this year were classified by the Australian Classification Board as kid friendly, the average age of a gamer is 32, not “too young to play that”, and a huge percentage of parents play video games with their kids.
Author of the report Dr. Jeff Brand said, “When we conducted the first report in 2005, video games were seen as a medium aimed at younger children who only played on a console or PC. Today, the profile of the typical gamer is nearly synonymous with the profile of the typical Australian.”
Ron Curry, CEO of Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA) added, “The latest report reinforces the breadth and depth of Australia’s gaming community. The first generation of Australian gamers are all grown up and playing video games not only for their own leisure, but as a way to connect with their children and their own parents.”
See, gaming is normal. Of course the statistics are taking a look at a very broad range of gaming habits, but the fact still stands that playing video games is part of life for Australian folks, no matter the context. Although technology is changing the way the video games industry works it is also bringing the medium to more people.
85% of gamers also say that playing video games reduces stress, something that has been echoed by previous studies which found that casual games can help with anxiety and depression.
For the full report, other key findings and more information head over to the IGEA website.
SteelSeries released the latest evolution in their SteelSeries Siberia line of headsets today. The SteelSeries Siberia Elite is the first in the series to feature 7.1 surround sound through Dolby’s virtualization technology. Additionally, the headphones sport over size memory foam ear cushions to add another dimension of comfort with the Sibera’s iconic suspension design. The volume and microphone controls are located on dials built into the earcup. The LEDs inside the ear cups can also produce 16.8 million different colours to suit every user’s needs. The drivers powering the Siberia Elite are the highest quality used in the line to date. The microphone is an active noise cancelling microphone that stows inside the headset when not in use.
The release of the SteelSeries Siberia Elite also brings the SteelSeries Engine 3. The engine has been completely rebuilt from scratch to provide customization. Different equalizer profiles can be saved for different games. Players can use a profile tuned to accentuate the sound of footsteps in Call of Duty while having a head rattling bass heavy profile for their favourite action movies. The SteelSeries Siberia Elite is now available for $299.99 AUD only and in stores everywhere.
A week has gone past us already, and it is time for the awesome folks over at Disney to shower us with free Disney Infinity maps in this week’s Toy Box Challenge. As with previous weeks, there are five free maps for Disney Infinity owners to download, as well as a new Toy Box Submission Challenge, and a video that showcases the winners of the previous challenge. Without further adieu, lets get into it!
TOY BOX SUBMISSION CHALLENGE
This week’s Toy Box Challenge is titled the Disney Movies Challenge, and tasks players with recreating famous Disney Films. Will you recreate Halloween Town from Nightmare Before Christmas, or maybe a scene from Fantasia? As always you can follow these instructions to send your Toy Box for approval
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U
Bring up the Pause Menu and select “Online/Multiplayer.”
Then select “Toy Box Share” > “Disney’s Toy Boxes” > “Submit to Disney.”
Follow the prompts. You’ll be asked to give your Toy Box an original name and description. Choose carefully – they will be shown to everybody if your Toy Box is featured.
iPad
Bring up the Pause Menu and select “Toy Box Share.”
Then select “Disney’s Toy Boxes” > “Submit to Disney.”
Follow the prompts. You’ll be asked to give your Toy Box an original name and description. Choose carefully – they will be shown to everybody if your Toy Box is featured
TOY BOX COUNTDOWN
This week’s Toy Box Countdown features the top 5 user generated maps that were submitted to Disney for the previous Maze Challenge. Check out the video below to see the top 5 entrants in the challenge. All of which you can download right now!
You can check out last week’s winning Toy Box maps here.
That’s another week of Disney Infinity updates for you passionate Disney fans out there. Were you happy with the Toy Box Countdown winners? Will you be downloading any of the maps (wither from the winners, or from Disney)? Let us know in the comments below, and remember that for all the Disney Infinity news as it becomes available, stay tuned to Capsule Computers.
This week, Ferrari joins the line up of manufacturers in Real Racing 3. The extremely popular Italian sports car manufacturer and EA Mobile has made the Ferrari FF, 458 Italia, and the F12berlinetta available for play. Additionally, the update has brought the Spanish race track Cricuit de Catalunya, hireable crew members, AI improvements, HUD customization, and Time Trial Ghost challenges to the game. Real Racing 3 is available for free on the iTunes App Store and Google Play.
Additionally, the iTunes App Store launched in South Africa recently. EA Mobile has brought their more popular titles to the region including FIFA14, Plants vs Zombies 2, Real Racing 3, The Simpsons: Tapped Out, and The Sims FreePlay.
The Garden of SinnersDeluxe Movie Collection Studio:Ufotable Publisher: Madman Format: DVD Release Date: October 16, 2013 Price: $149.95 – Available Here
Overview
Some of you might be familiar with this title, also known as Kara no Kyoukai, but from my experience there is a fairly large number of anime fans who haven’t taken notice of this supernatural series of films. Which is understandable. It looks obscure, uncomfortably dark and has been out for a number of years, sitting quietly in the shadows.
Nasu Kinoko of Type Moon first wrote Kara no Kyoukai as a series of novels before he created the popular visual novel Fate/stay Night. While they both share a similar universe and “laws”, such as the use of magic, the two are very different. This adaptation was first released as an expensive Blu-ray import by Aniplex of America, where it sold out during it’s pre-order phase. Thankfully Aniplex re-released it as a more affordable DVD collection and now Madman has followed suit, bringing this movie set to Australia and New Zealand for the first time. Limited to just 1,000 copies, should The Garden of Sinners Deluxe Movie Collection be snapped up before it’s gone for good? We certainly think so.
Story The Garden of Sinners is made up of seven movies with a shorter epilogue totalling eight feature films. While there is an underlying story that jumps back and forth, most of the films have their own individual turn of events which manages to keep things fresh and constantly introduces new characters. It’s also important for viewers to pay attention to the timeline of each movie, otherwise things may get confusing very quickly.
The story takes place between 1995 and 1999 and is centered around our lonely female protagonist, Shiki Ryougi, and her acquaintance, Mikiya Kokutou, who has been drawn to her since high school. Shiki isn’t a normal girl, though. Possessing the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, she can see the so-called “seams” of life and death in every living thing, allowing her to cut almost anything. She works for Touko Aozaki, a puppet maker and a magus, who runs a small organisation that deals with abnormal events.
While almost each film has a supernatural plot with elements like villains and ghosts that cause suicides, the real crux to The Garden of Sinners is Shiki Ryougi’s story. Her beginnings as a daughter to a wealthy family, her split personality and obsession with murdering and how she met and almost killed Mikiya Kokutou. Mikiya’s belief and devotion to her is almost heart-wrenching. It’s a poignant, philosophical picture of life and the worth of living. But it also paints a stain on the worst of humanity through the taking of life. These films depict what they need to, without holding back, by showing gory deaths, a rape scene as well as cannibalism. It might all sound depressing but that’s really not the case. Yes it’s sad, thoughtful and ugly but it’s also beautiful and really powerful.
As an adaptation, this is Ufotable’s finest work and an example of how novels should be animated. Nothing is rushed, everything is shown with purpose. The theatrical film format lets everything sink in, leaving you mesmerised and retrospective in your seat throughout the credits of movie.
Visuals
Anyone who knows the studio Ufotable (Fate/Zero), who’s major debut came with these films, would know what to expect here. From the level of detail in every scene, the depiction of the dark and eerie city to the rendition of Takeuchi’s character design, the animation quality is simply sublime. The visuals, combined with the audio, really do make this series. It deserves to be seen on these grounds alone as I’ve yet to experience anything else quite like this in the anime industry.
The best way I can describe the animation is that it’s technical. Some anime like Makoto Shinkai’s The Garden of Words (no coincidence with the title!) are beautiful like an oil painting while others make use of unique art styles. This, however, is like an eye-melting, PC tech-demo running on the highest settings. But combine this with a dark environment full of shadows, gory encounters and painstaking level of detail in every frame and you get something really special indeed.
Given the quality, I can’t help but express a desire to see this in Blu-ray, but that would be a little unfair seeing as they were strictly limited and beyond the price range of us common folk.
Audio
Think the animation looks damn fine? Wait until you hear it. The sound department equals that of the outstanding visual quality. Yuki Kajiura (Puella Magi Madoka Magica) as composer is a natural fit to Ufotable’s animation, with use of fantastic string and piano instruments, weeping melodies as well as a unique theme song for every movie in the end credits by Kalafina.
The voice acting is expertly done, especially by the main lead Shiki and her tough, boyish voice. Fans of English dubs will be disappointed however, as this is a subtitled release. Given that it’s a Limited Edition that, by some miracle, has made it down under we can’t complain!
Extras The Garden of Sinners comes with with what you’d expect in a “Deluxe Movie Collection”. While we rarely see boxed releases from Madman these days, they decided to go all-out with this set. Included in the box (which has an awesome piece of artwork) are “Theater Pre-show Reminder” videos, a 36-page booklet containing a very useful chronology and episodic summaries, art work and messages from the staff. Finally there are 14 postcards featuring original art for the movies by artist Takashi Takeuchi.
For those iffy about the fairly high price tag it’s worth noting that these are 7 films (plus an OVA, essentially) that received a theatrical release in Japan. While some are under an hour, a couple run for almost 2 hours!
For those curious about the differences between Aniplex of America’s and Madman’s release, it’s almost identical. However, the box has a shinier finish, the DVDs come in ultra-thin cases and the post cards are of a smaller size.
Overall The Garden of Sinners is one the greatest series of anime films in my opinion, and the message it conveys is equally as great as the production values. The superb animation and sound form a package that’s truly special, and it’s all wrapped up in a box that, for once, looks great on your shelf.
It’s not an easy show to swallow, however, and without full attention and reference to the timeline of each film viewers can be left confused. The Garden of Sinners has terminology that is shared across a “Nasuverse” which spans the author’s works, and is not well explained. But should you decide to give this a go, you’ll be left thinking about Shiki and Mikiya long after the credits of the Epilogue, and chances are these films will remain a benchmark for many years to come.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
