Emerging from the dusts of post-apocalyptic World War III is Wonder Woman, and she is ready to fight. Warner Bros and DC Entertainment have announced that Atomic Wonder Woman will be joining the already impressive roster (that includes the likes of Zatanna and Gaslight Catwoman) for their upcoming MOBA; Infinite Crisis.
Born in a world much like ours, Atomic Wonder Woman lives in a world on the brink of war. In the midst of the Cold War, an object from space explodes over Kansas and ignites World War 3. From the dusts of the nuclear Armageddon, and armed with a trusty chainsaw, Atomic Wonder Woman’s mission turns from one of peace to one of restoration.
Starting August 21st, players everywhere will be able to use the savior of the badlands to thwart evil and save the multiverse from destruction. In addition to announcing Atomic Wonder Woman for their new game, Warner Bros. have also kindly posted a new video that showcases her unique skills and abilities, while also teaching players both old and new how to best utilise her in combat. You can check out the video below, and as always for all the Infinite Crisis news as it becomes available, stay tuned to Capsule Computers.
SMASH! 2013 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, August 10, was huge. So huge that the poor venue could barely contain the rush of rabid fans, cosplayers and curious locals all totalling some 7,849 attendees!
SMASH! President Ray Elinon said, “The convention would not have been successful without our loyal SMASH! convention-goers, hardworking volunteers, exhibitors and vendors, and of course, our main special guests Masakazu Morita, Haruko Momoi, Hidenori Matsubara and Loverin Tamburin.”
The Convention Centre in Darling Harbour has held the event for the last three years but renovations are forcing SMASH! 2014 to relocate. Next year’s convention will be held at Western Sydney’s Rosehill Gardens during a two-day event on August 9-10, 2014.
“We haven’t had a two-day convention since 2009 when SMASH! used to be at UNSW’s Roundhouse,” says Elinon. Spreading the event out across two days will definitely change things up, as SMASH! has become known for a focused, Saturday rush of all things anime and Japanese pop culture.
We can’t wait to see what the SMASH! team will think of next year, but until then visit the official site for the latest info and check out our SMASH! 2013 recap which will get you up to speed on last week’s event.
PayDay 2 is the follow up to the 2011 co-op shooter PayDay: The Heist. Though it retains the heist theme from the original game, PayDay 2 is a completely new evolution that took the heist theme from the first game and turned it into a crime simulator.
Story
The story in PayDay 2 is a little vague. Bain returns from PayDay: The Heist as the man behind the scenes. He has set up Crime.NET to provide heist crews an easy access to jobs. The PayDay crew returns from the first game mostly intact. All the same codenames and masks have are back for the exception of Hoxton. Gone is the British accented thief as Dallas’ younger brother now dons Hoxton’s mask. The developers have written up a small back-story for each character that can be read in game.
To get a better handle on the overall plot in PayDay 2, players will need to watch the live action series on YouTube. Clips from the videos themselves are prominently displayed as part of the background in the preparation and stats screens in each round. Characters like Vlad the Ukranian mobster, Hector the Columbian cartel boss, and the corrupt politician known as The Elephant will provide the PayDay crew with most of their jobs. Those characters are fleshed out in the YouTube series. Unfortunately, the videos themselves cannot be found in-game and there are no links to the videos either. Only curious players who look through YouTube will find the videos.
Within the game, the developers prefer to focus on the story surrounding each heist. They range from simple stories like the local bank receiving a large deposit to complex multi-day capers that involve framing a rival politician through his love for expensive art. The plots are straight forward like a good heist film. Overkill Software has created a gritty version of Washington D.C. full of corruption, crime, and drugs.
A lot of the terribly cheesy lines uttered by police in PayDay: The Heist return in PayDay 2 and new lines take the exaggeration a little further. The campiness is a hit and miss. There are some tense moments that feel ruined when the police yell something utterly ridiculous.
Gameplay
PayDay 2 is a co-op first person shooter through and through. The single player experience is exactly the same as the multiplayer experience. If the player does not have friends to play with, they can opt to take along the rather stupid bots or play in public matches. Crime.NET makes it extremely easy to find multiplayer matches. Gamers are presented with a map of Washington D.C. and random jobs will start popping up. Players can start filtering by location, if friends are playing, and jobs that will allow them to host the game. The game will also pick out a random set of jobs they can host. To find different jobs, they player needs to reset the pool by completing another job or restarting the game. The system is supposed to provide a feeling of immersion, but is actually rather frustrating in execution. In later levels, only Overkill difficulty heists are actually profitable in experience and money. The problem is a lot of time is wasted sitting around waiting for these Overkill difficulty jobs to appear on the map. The idea that only certain heists are available at one time is a fun idea, however it would be better if players could choose the difficulty level themselves.
The heists themselves are dynamic beings. Although the goals are the same each time, the levels are generated differently each playthrough. Camera placements, guard strength, civilians population, and objective locations will differ each time the level is played. Although studying the blueprints in the beginning of the game will provide a rough idea of the level, players really never know what they are getting into. The game does encourage players to “case the joint” and gather intelligence before pulling on the masks and starting the heist in earnest.
The game’s level design is very good. Players are given plenty of options on how they want to approach a heist. Certain levels benefit from the stealthy touch while others are best done with violence of action. For more difficult heists, players can spend money earned in previous jobs to buy certain bonuses like better intelligence or access to extra ammunition in the level. Several heists are multi-day operations that require several different levels to complete. Failing an objective may not actually end a level, but rather change the objectives for the next day. Randomly, things can go wrong and suddenly the player is thrust in an extra escape level that tend to be extremely difficult. This provides a level of unpredictably that is just good fun. My only complaint with the level design is that some levels are rehashed. For example, the Jewelry Store and the Ukrainian Job are the same level with some minor adjustments.
There is an extensive amount of customization options available to the players in PayDay 2. Gameplay wise, players are able to purchase guns from a large armoury of weapons. After successfully completing a heist, players are given a “pay day” where they can select one of three playing cards. They will then be randomly awarded a weapon mod, a mask customization item, or bonus money. The weapon mods modify the gun’s stats which provides tons of opportunity for the player to create the perfect weapon to suit their play style. There are tons of weapon mods to collect and attach to the player’s gun. It seems that the only thing Overkill forgot about was the coffee maker.
There are four stat trees players can specialize in to further customize their character. They work like traditional RPG talent trees. Players can pick from the Mastermind tree, which specializes in taking control of the situation and buffing teammates; the Enforcer tree, which can soak incredible amounts of damage and send a hail of bullets at the enemy; the Technician tree, which provide a sentry gun and C4 to break open stubborn doors and safes quickly; and the new Ghost tree, which provides tools for stealth. Talents cost money and skill points that are earned from leveling up. Currently, the game caps out at level 100, which means no player can purchase all of the available skills. Like any good RPG, the most successful parties will have teams of players with specs that synergize well. Skill trees can be respecced, which refunds the skill points spent in the specific tree and some of the money invested in purchasing the skills.
Currently, the game is pretty well balanced. There are definitely certain weapons and skills that could be tweaked slightly. However, the guns handle noticeably different without being too overpowered and no skill tree completely dominates the other. Teams will need to be well balanced to be successful.
The mask customization is a purely cosmetic addition that give players plenty of options to express their creativity. The base masks are a rare drop that can be modified with a variety of materials, colours, and decals. The customization options range from fearsome to plain silly.
PayDay 2’s controls are classic FPS fare. They work well and PC gamers will be able to use either the Xbox 360 controller or the keyboard and mouse combo. The default keys should suit almost all gamers. The controls were very responsive for the most part, however intimidating civilians can be a little rocky at times.
The UI is well designed for co-op gameplay. Important things like special enemies, fellow players, and important objects are highlighted with a coloured outline that is visible no matter where the player is. The status of teammates can be easily found with a quick glance to the bottom of the screen. I really appreciated the fact that players can see the progress of their teammates actions, which prevents multiple players completing the same action at the same time.
PayDay 2’s release is not without problems. There are some bugs of varying severity that were not stomped out during the beta. Some of the larger problems include van doors not always opening in the level Bank Heist which result in significantly less money earned and alarms going off when two players attempt to answer the same pager and both players do not complete the prompt. I personally did not encounter any game breaking errors, but the first day of release was met with some initial rockiness that seems to have settled down.
Visuals
PayDay 2 looks great and is not too taxing on computer systems. There are some minor visual glitches in some level at close inspection that need to be ironed out. PC gamers will be happy to hear that the PC version has some decent customization options, including the often demanded Field of View slider.
Audio
PayDay 2 sports some decent voice acting. Many voice actors have reprised their roles. The sound effects are enjoyable. My only complaint about the audio is that by default it seems to be extremely loud. This probably will not be a problem for console gamers, but for PC gamers, this can be frustrating. This is the first game that I had to turn down the master volume just to hear people talking using their microphones.
Overall
For $29.99 on Windows and $39.99 on consoles, PayDay 2 is a boatload of affordable fun. There is enough content and replay value to keep gamers going for hours on end. Single player gamers probably will find some challenge in attempting solo runs of certain heist, but this is a game best enjoyed with friends or players willing to cooperate. For fans of co-op games, PayDay 2 is a no brainer as players will walk out with epic stories to recount. Even when heists go horribly wrong, the game manages to be entertaining. The initial launch has been a little rocky and Crime.NET will become frustrating to higher level players, but PayDay 2 is still worth a purchase.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Daily Lives of High School Boys Studio: Sunrise Publisher: Hanabee Format: DVD Release Date: July 31st, 2013 Price:$59.99 – Available Here
Overview
The 4koma comedy style is one that has been the foundation of several comedy anime classics over the years with series such as Azumanga Daioh and more recently Nichijou – My Ordinary Life making great use of the style’s defining ‘short but sweet skits’ characteristic. Now here we are with yet another 4koma styled comedy anime, Daily Lives of High School Boys, a series that’s premise may deter or intrigue you depending on your tastes. Regardless of all that, Daily Lives of High School Boys rises above preconceptions with sheer bombast, bringing on laugh after laugh.
Story
Conceptually there is little about Daily Lives of High School Boys that stands out. The title honestly says it all, this is a show about the lives of three high school boys. There lives are rather average, with little of real consequence ever truly happening, but the teenage mind is a wild beast no less. Their minds race at a million miles an hour, while the world around them turns ever so slowly, such is the daily lives of high school boys.
With referential humour, fourth wall destruction, playing tropes like a fiddle and some rather insane sight gags, Daily Lives of High School Boys proves to be pretty damn funny. Each episode follows the 4koma comedy idealogy of several skits (often unconnected to one another) spread out across the course of an episode. Some skits hit harder than others, some fall flat, thus is the nature of comedy. But for what it is worth, Daily Lives of High School Boys does well at bringing out some laughs, with each episode having a few good laughs to their names at the very least.
The setting and cast is perhaps the most interesting choice here. The series features a predominantly male cast, even going so far as to being set in an all-boys high school giving rise to several fujoshi-ready situations and jokes, yet the crude and often perverted humour seems to suggest this is not a series exclusively for girls. It is a tough balancing act and not one that Daily Lives of High School Boys really pulls off, but it is interesting to see all the cogs in the machine turning, desperately trying to cater to several audiences all at once.
Despite those balancing issues, Daily Lives of High School Boys does offer a bit of everything without ever really going all in on any of those things. Thankfully the series has it’s apparent knack for hitting the right comedic notes effectively which cancels out the erratic nature of the content. It succeeds in spite of itself thanks wholly to its sheer commitment to its particular brand of comedy. Daily Lives of High School Boys is nothing without its sense of humour.
While it may be hot and cold on who it wants its intended audience to be but Daily Lives of High School Boys is a solid show all round, with some great moments and laughs to be had. It isn’t the best anime comedy we’ve seen, but it is still a spot of fun to watch.
Visuals and Audio
The aesthetics of Daily Lives of High School Boys are not particularly impressive, but as with most comedy series the animation quality is firmly placed in the middle ground, never going all out and never falling off the wagon. It does the job and has enough variation to it stylistically that it results in what is a rather appealing visual style. The character designs aren’t anything to write home about, but as with the rest of the art, it gets the job done.
Perhaps the highlight of the series is the soundtrack. With a delicious mix of pop-infused beats and some rip roaring rock, Daily Lives of High School Boys has a deep well of incidental music to draw from and it does so with excellent timing and precision. The soundtrack complements the action on screen, even adding to it in some cases. The opening and ending themes are both greatly suited to the series and round out the soundtrack quite well.
There is however the unfortunate side-note that this release only features Japanese audio. Sadly no English audio is present on this release, which is always a shame. None the less the Japanese voice cast were great, nailing the comedy all the while giving life to the characters. All round it is a nice package in terms of audio, one that certainly makes up for the frequently droll art work.
Extras
Hanabee’s release of Daily Lives of High School Boys goes well in the special features department, making up for the lack of an English audio track with a plethora of extras. While the release comes in a standard case, it includes a decent amount of on disc content such as clean opening and ending themes, promo spots and even a special OVA to put the ribbon on top. It is a great release all round and well worth the price tag if your going on content alone.
Overall
Daily Lives of High School Boys is ultimately a mixed bag in many ways, but rises above that with a great sense of humour that provides the real punch behind the series. If you are looking for a good laugh, Daily Lives of High School Boys has you covered. It is far from perfect, but it is still a spot of fun.
Don’t go into Daily Lives of High School Boys with any preconceptions and you may just find yourself pleasantly surprised by just how funny it is. It has a solid cast of characters and a sense of humour that will no doubt resonate with anime fans more than anyone else. Sometimes daily life can be a bit of a laugh and that rings true with Daily Lives of High School Boys.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Dengeki Online recently revealed that a new Pokemon anime had been green-lit. The new anime is to be titled Pokemon: The Origin and is slated to directly adapt the original two Pokemon video-games, Pokemon Red and Green.
Over the course of a 24 hour period, news of Pokemon: The Origin had just about broken the internet, it began to trend on twitter and it became one of the hottest topics among anime fans, with many fans of the video-games proclaiming it to be the Pokemon anime they always wanted.
The Pokemon anime we have seen over the past 15 years has been based somewhat loosely on the games, starring a different protagonist and taking liberties with the world and characters from that which is described in the games. So it came as a pleasant surprise to see that Pokemon: The Origin appears to be far more faithful to the games than anything seen in the original Pokemon anime.
While it is certainly great to see something like Pokemon: The Origin, it does come with the unfortunate news that it will simply be a one-off special rather than a fully fledged anime series. Fans can however hope that the special does well enough to perhaps get some people talking about potentially extending it into a full series, although it is unfortunately unlikely that that will happen.
So here we stand more than 15 years since the Pokemon anime first graced our screens, yet we still find ourselves wanting more. What is it about Pokemon that makes it so enduring in the hearts of its fans? I believe it is the spirit of adventure, discovering and friendship that has so very much defined the series over all these years. We connect with these ideals because it is something we all desire for ourselves, Pokemon will always have a place in our hearts, because we romanticize the spirit that Pokemon thrives on.
That is why we are all clamoring over Pokemon: The Origin, because it flashes us back to that first adventure, that time we chose our very first Pokemon, our first wild encounter in that all too familiar tall grass, the magic we felt with each new discovery. Pokemon: The Origin is not just a nostalgia trip though, this is the hearts and souls of an entire generation reflected in anime form. The is the Pokemon anime we always wanted, because this is the Pokemon adventure that we had.
For those who grew up on Pokemon, this one-off special will be undoubtedly worth watching, perhaps you could treat it as a ‘what could have been’ type of thing. Could this really have been the Pokemon anime or were we always destined to journey with Ash and friends? We may never know the answer to that but we will get a glimpse at what could have been come October 2nd when Pokemon: The Origin airs in Japan. For now check out the glorious trailer for Pokemon: The Origin below, it really is something incredible.
SEGA Europe Ltd and SEGA of America, Inc. have confirmed the worldwide release of Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse on September 4, 2013. The highly anticipated re-imagining of the classic genesis platformer, will be available for digital download on Xbox LIVE Arcade, PlayStation Network and Windows PC for $14.99 USD, 12.99 EUR or 1200 Microsoft Points.
European gamers who pre-order Castle of Illusion on PSN from August 21 to September 3 will receive the following exclusive content, accessible from the launch:
a novel dynamic skin
three avatars only reserved for pre-orders
downloadable emulated version of the original Mega Drive game
Don’t miss out on Disney’s amazing HD adventure, starring Mickey Mouse! Check out SEGA’s official site here for further information and post your thoughts on the game in the comments section below.
Senior game Designer Bryan Williams and Interactive Marketing Manager Aubrey Sitterson spent almost an hour livestreaming footage from their upcoming wrestling game WWE 2K14. They streamed three full matches featuring Randy Savage vs Ultimate Warrior, Ryback vs Dolph Ziggler, and John Cena vs Daniel Bryan. The pair show off some of the new moves and features added in the game.
WWE 2K14 is the latest installment of the long running wrestling franchise and the first title in the series to be published by 2K Sports. The game will be released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on October 29th in North America and November 1st in Europe.
Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, Pepsi and Coca Cola, Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla, Battlefield and Call of Duty, what do all of these have in common? They are all famous rivalries! With the recent Call of Duty Ghosts Multiplayer Reveal video, EA and DICE are raising the stakes with the new “Real Players, Real Gameplay” videos. These videos feature player reactions and gameplay footage from Battlefield 4‘s focus group testing.
Battlefield 4 is set to be released on October 29th in North America, October 21 in Australia/New Zealand, and November 1st in Europe. The game will be available for Windows PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Only in Battlefield 4: “Crash In Guns Blazing”
Only in Battlefield 4: “I Stabbed Him in the Water”
Only in Battlefield 4: “Taking Out Tanks Left and Right”
Activision is proud to claim the publishing title of this year’s stellar line-up for the most highly-anticipated games at Gamescom 2013.
CEO of Activision Publishing, Eric Hirshberg stated, “With the next-generation of consoles on the horizon, this is obviously an exciting time for gamers. And there’s no better place to share the incredible slate of games we have coming than Gamescom, where our fans can get hands on with the games and really experience them. With Call of Duty: Ghosts, Destiny and Skylanders Swap Force on our slate, we think we’re going to have some of the most talked about and anticipated games at the show.”
The Activision booth will feature an interactive “Show Mode” experience, displaying video action and gameplay footage of these next-gen games, in a stunning panoramic 190° cinematic theatre experience. Activision’s line-up at Gamescom 2013, includes:
Call of Duty: Ghosts –attendees will get the first global opportunity to play the game and watch gameplay footage from the best pro-players across Europe in the Multiplayer Showcase event, streamed live on Xbox 360 from 18.00 CET on Wednesday, August 21
Destiny –visitors will see a seven-player live-demo, set in Old Russia in Gamecom’s biggest ever demo-theatre, create Destiny photo moments, buy exclusive game merchandise (t-shirts, trading cards) at the GameStop info booth and receive a copy of the new ViDoc entitled, “Out Here in the Wild,” with behind-the-scenes access to the creators of Destiny’s rich universe
Skylanders SWAP Force –attendees will be able to play the game on PS3 and PS4 at the SONY Computer Entertainment Deutschland booth and will have the chance to win one of three exclusive T-shirts created especially for Gamescom at the Activision booth
Check out Activision’s booth, located in Hall 7.1, in the Koelnmesse GmbH Exhibition Centre in Cologne, Germany from August 21-25.
EA have announced that their EA Sports branded title NHL 14 will be getting a demo released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners next week on the 22nd of August, 2013.
NHL 14 won several awards at the E3 expo for best sports title on show. The game runs on the incredible EA Sports technology and provides gamers with what is undoubtedly the best hockey experience in a video-game the NHL game series has seen to date.
Be sure to pick up the demo for the hotly anticipated NHL 14 next week when it launches for free download on the Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network.
