As you may have already heard, all first-run copies of Killer is Dead will include free ‘Smooth Operator’ DLC along with a number of other extras such as a hardcover art book and soundtrack CD. Today XSEED Games released some screenshots showing off what this DLC will have to offer players.
As you can see below, there are alternate costumes for Vivienne and Mika, a bonus Gigolo Mission with Betty, an extra episode focused around a vampire named Sebastian and an in-game item called ‘Gigolo Glasses.’ Killer is Dead is currently set to be released later this month August 27th in North America and August 30th elsewhere.
Sanctum is Coffee Stain Studio’s tower defense/first person shooter crossover series. Super Sanctum Tower Defense is a retro take on the series that was released alongside Sanctum 2. The FPS perspective is replaced with a traditional isometric view and the three dimensional graphics now features SNES graphics.
Story
Super Sanctum Tower Defense is a casual take on the series. There is no plot in the game and the Core Guardians have an extremely small part in the game. The units and buildings will be familiar to players who have played the other Sanctum titles, but no effort is made to introduce new players to the Sanctum universe.
Gameplay
The tower defense mechanics play exactly like the Sanctum series. The player is presented with a blank level and is allowed to build walls to control the movement of the incoming enemies. The enemies will take the most direct route to the player’s core. Each enemy that reaches the core will do a certain amount of damage to it. When the core’s health reaches zero, the game is over. Each map is a different design, which force players to create the most effective maze possible based on the landscape.
The players can only choose up to four tower types and four active abilities to use in each map. The player starts with a small amount of money to buy towers and gains more money by killing enemies, picking up crates of cash randomly dropped by enemies, and successfully completing levels. Towers can be upgraded twice to provide great range, firing rate, and damage. Just like the full game, augmenting the towers and active abilities are a variety of perks that can be purchased between levels. The perks can improve certain types of towers, improve active abilities, improve money flow, and provide some general advantages.
Super Sanctum Tower Defense is a deceptively difficult game. There are two levels of difficulty and two modes of gameplay. Survival mode will throw an endless stream of enemies at the player’s defenses. The longer players can hold out, the higher their ranking on the online leaderboards. The regular mode will pit the players against a set amount of waves. The normal level of difficulty can be beaten by players of any skill level, but a perfect level will challenge tower defense veterans. There are a large variety of towers to choose from, each with an optimal condition for use. Players will need to create a working strategy and choose a skill tree build that will best suit their plan of attack to succeed at the game.
Almost all of the enemy aliens in the Sanctum universe make an appearance in Super Sanctum Tower Defense. The player will encounter a large number of generic Walkers, but special aliens like the quick groups of Runners will test the flexibility of the player’s defenses. The game throws a larger wrench in the machine by throwing flying units that fly over walls and take the most direct route to the core at the player. Certain towers only fire at air or ground units, which forces the player to make difficult choices during pregame tower selection. To provide players a chance to counter these units, each tower can be given specific targeting instructions, such as preferring to shoot at the healthiest enemy.
The controls in Super Sanctum Tower Defense are relatively simple. The game can be played with the mouse only, with players dragging and dropping abilities and towers into the right spot. However, since active abilities have a small time window where they are more effective, Super Sanctum Tower Defense is best played with a mouse and keyboard. The four towers are bound from keys 1-4 and the active abilities are bound to Q,W,E, and R. Unfortunately, there is no way to change the key binds, so left handed gamers may find themselves frustrated.
Visuals
Super Sanctum Tower Defense is retro 16-bit take on the series’ sterile visual style. The visuals are a departure from the series’ three dimensional graphics, but are instantly recognizable as Sanctum with its white and blue colour scheme. The whole series has been reimagined as an SNES game and looks great to boot. My only complaint is that the game is locked at a 1024 x 768 resolution. There are no options to tweak the visuals.
Audio
The audio follows the retro theme with blips, bloops, and chiptunes. The music isn’t bad to listen to, but it isn’t the greatest thing. I found myself turning off the music and sound effects after a while out of audio boredom.
Overall
Super Sanctum Tower Defense is a solid game to play on a coffee break or a laptop while on the train to work. At $4.99, the game is a little pricey. The game does strip out the unique FPS mechanics from the Sanctum series, but is still an entertaining tower defense game that stays true to its roots.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf series of books have sold over ten million units worldwide since 1984. Now, the long running series is breaking into the mobile market with the help of Forge Reply and Atlantyca Lab. BulkyPix will be providing their publishing expertise as they have already brought classics like Asterix to the mobile market.
The game will be entitled Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf: Blood on the Snow. It will be released for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. The game will be a fusion of interactive fiction and RPG gameplay. The first act of the four act game will be released in November 2013. More information about the title will be announced at GamesCom 2013.
As SMASH! 2013 ended, it was time for most people to head on home and rest up after a long and fun day of panels, discussions, merchandise hunting and cosplaying. However, for a sizeable group of people, the night was only just about to begin, for the night would bring out one of the most fun dance party events that has been hosted in Sydney. Themed after the Vocaloid sensation and starring two of Japans leading Vocaloid DJ’s Hachioji P and kz, was the first ever Vocaloid Night party.
What a night it was over at the Pontoon Bar across the bay from the Sydney Convention Center. It was amazing to see such a large turnout of Otaku, Anime aficionados, Vocaloid fans and even some regular people coming along to see what the night had in store for them. Not only was there great music, but we also had Anime and Vocaloid themed cocktails to enjoy. Seeing as it was a Vocaloid event, I personally stuck to the cocktail “Hatsune“, named after the most famous Vocaloid, which was quite nice.
Assisting with the night were a few of the members of the group running the Neko Nation event here in Australia, which focuses on remixes of Anime, gaming and touhou music. It’s really great seeing the local events helping each other out to help grow and nurture for a growing culture here in Australia.
The club itself was a bit smokey, which was most likely to help with the awesome lighting and laser effects coming from the stage which really added to the atmosphere of the event. Adding onto this was the amazing electronic soundtracks being played over the course of the evening, and everyone was dancing to their best.
Of course, the stars of the night were the two Japanese guest DJ’s, Hachioji P and kz, both of whom had the crowds cheering, chanting, making a lot of noise and in some cases, singing along to their favourite Vocaloid tunes. In fact, I’d say that as great as the local talents were, the two DJ’s were the best performers of the night. Hachioji P played a really great set in the middle of the event and kz closed the event with an amazingly high energy performance which left the crowd chanting for more. And to be honest, I’m not sure that kz was expecting that kind of reception as he seemed rather flustered and humbled by the praise of the crowd. There was some really nice energy flowing from the crowd to the stage and then back. Which was amazing to be a part of.
Vocaloid Night 2013 was a successful event in that it achieved the things I was looking for from a musical event. A great and enthusiastic crowd, talented DJ’s and a sense of community and comraderie improvised from a joined and collective fandom. This was a great night and it would be a shame if there wasn’t a follow up to this event next year.
In time for this week’s release of Payday 2, Episode 4 of the PayDay 2 Web Series is now available on YouTube. Episode 3 left off after a brutal fistfight cleared Hector’s strip club. Episode 4 starts with Special Agent Griffin talking Mr. Steele, the owner of the First World Bank. She is looking for clues to track down the PayDay crew and suspects Mr. Steele is involved. At the same time, a corrupt politician known as The Elephant is working his way into Bain’s Crime.net but getting in isn’t that easy.
PayDay 2 is a co-op FPS set to be released on Steam on August 13th, 2013. PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions will be released worldwide between August 13th to 16th.
At this years SMASH! Sydney Manga and Anime Show! Mindscape were holding a competition for fan-art of the conventions mascots. The artwork was submitted by fans to Mindscape and then put on display at the convention to eventually be judged and have a winner chosen.
What made this competition interesting is that it was themed after a ZombieApocolypse and was also open to entrants that may not be attending the event physically. This means that the competition was open to a potential large amount of entrants.
On display were some great entries. Hopefully Mindscape will be hosting competitions like these at future events. If you were at SMASH 2013 this year let us know what you thought of the artwork on show in the comments section below.
This year at SMASH! Sydney Manga and Anime Show, much like the last few years, there was a maid cafe set up to service attendees that made bookings. At the cafe, participants were served by both maids and butlers some fine treats and other kinds of delectables.
The maid cafe is well known as an event based on the Japanese maid cafes that are favourited by otaku types. Typically the staff are dressed in older style maid outfits and are usually quite cute. The maids at SMASH! were no exception to this. Thankfully we were able to take some photos of the cafe and the maids.
As always, the maid cafe was a huge success with it being booked completely out and being quite busy for the entire day. We’re sure everyone that attended had a great time. If you did attend let us know what you thought of it in the comments section below.
In Rockstar‘s Grand Theft Auto Vgameplay premiere video, the online component of the game was glimpsed at in the tail-end of the trailer before the narrator promised; “which we will show you properly soon”.
Now, we have confirmation of the reveal date for Grand Theft Auto Online – this Thursday, August 15th. Not only will we receive our first detailed gameplay video of the online modes, but embargos on the first press previews will also be lifted. This will all be released through www.rockstargames.com/GTAOnline, but you can be sure that we will be covering it on the day and sharing it with our readers as promptly as possible.
Overview From wondering why we’re here to ending up on the wrong side of a panther, the Red vs Blue Best of Bundle has it all…It has a lot…The best of, that’s the whole point. It’ll make you laugh, it’ll make you cry, maybe. Machinima, shorts and animated adventures. Let’s begin shall we?
Welcome to Rooster Teeth!
Story The Best of Bundle is split over three discs, divided into Red vs Blue (RvB), Rooster Teeth Shorts (RT Shorts) and Rooster Teeth Animated Adventures (RTAA). Each series receives its own unique presentation.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Elites and Spartans, Rooster Teeth Productions presents…The Best Red vs Blue DVD Ever. Of All Time. (PS Its a joke from the show) Presented under the guise of a prime time, first (and only) annual awards ceremony, The Best DVD Ever compiles the greatest moments of RvB under the honour of being a “Best of”. Each award is presented by one of the numerous cast members from the series, from staples such as Church and Sarge, to those that were left behind, like Sister and Crunchbite. Over the course of the ceremony everything from “Best Driving” to “Best Couple” is covered. Opinions fly as the red carpet banter and on stage monologues question the moments that made the cut.
The best of the best…
The Best of Rooster Teeth Shorts presents the a fake documentary titled: The Kinda True Story of Rooster Teeth Shorts. Depicted as a serious account of the rise and fall of an internet tyrant, the documentary completely reinterprets the context individual short. In that it actually gives them context. Rather than a series one-shot jokes, each short is depicted as an event that occurred over the course of Rooster Teeth. Everything from the unfortunate circumstances of Gavin’s early employment, to the mysterious appearance of a button wielding warlock, all is explained. Kinda. Connecting a series of random collection of seemingly unrelated events certainly creates an interesting company history.
The Best of Rooster Teeth Animated Adventures is exactly that. The Best of…Most of. But who ever said the best of couldn’t be everything. Nobody, that’s who. The DVD showcases the numerous stick-armed adventures of the RT Podcast crew in stunning 2D, covering their “average” day to day lives. In between the cavalcade of animation, the employees of Rooster Teeth and subjects of each short share their own opinions, and clarifications, on the stories of their lives.
…and the rest
VisualsandAudio As one would expect from Red vs Blue, the award ceremony is presented completely via machinima. There is in fact an award for Best Visual Effect, showcasing the top standard of RvB animation. That being said there is also an award for Worst Visual Effect, harking back to earlier days. An RvB sans animation team. Simpler times.
RTAA is presented in its simplistic carton style, a fact the employees consistently point out. But that’s part of its charm. The DVD does however show the evolution of the animation since its premiere episode. What began as a somewhat crude series of skipping images creating a scene, became a series of fluid, less-crude animations. The eternal scowl of Animated Gus, the liberties taken when designing the RT Kids. What’s not to love.
Wha’ if, there was a lot of you?
The audio for the RvB Award Ceremony was…dramatic. Trumpets, fanfare. Just like a real award ceremony only machinama-y. Insults, innuendo and threats fly as the Blood Gulch crew, and a couple of Freelancers, host. Amidst all of the visual achievements, there is an award for Best Song, an honour that goes to the original opening theme of The Blood Gulch Chronicles, the aptly named, “Blood Gulch Blues”. Although it’s not the main focus, you also can’t help but notice the other songs in the background of certain award winning scenes, such as “Falling Towards the Sky”. This of course being heard alongside screams, explosions and the sound of super soldiers punching each other. The tune “I Am the Best” also plays over the credits of the RvB Awards, complete with music video.
Without spoiling the experience, audio is quite prevalent in the bonus season 5 short “Slo Mo Love”. It’s…interesting. The spoof trailer “Angry Birds” also comes complete with dramatic instrumentals, belying the intensity of the feathered artillery.
What are you…chicken?
Extras The RvB Best of Bundle features a bevy of extras. Every menu throughout the three DVDs has idle animations, in which various thing happen. Caboose talking to nobody, Super Saiyanimated Burnie, even Gus…’disposing’ of some other cast members. Stick around long enough an you’ll see some things.
The Best of RvB contains the standard extras as well. A trailer for Season 10, The Best of RTAA and The Best of RT Shorts. There is also a rundown of Achievement Hunter’s release schedule as ‘explained’ by Kara.
Where’s the Halo guy?
Along with those already mentioned, The Best of RT Shorts also features trailers for A Simple Walk into Mordor, Day 5, Immersion and RWBY (Red and White). The DVD also features a blooper reel, full of all the missed lines, laughter and general chaos that you don’t get to see. Also included in the extras is two bonus shorts from season 5, titled “Slo Mo Love” and the currently unreleased “Girls, Girls, Girls”. An option is also included that allows you to watch the shorts alone in their original stand alone format, without the Kinda True documentary in between linking them together.
The same option is provided in the DVD, allowing you to watch the shorts without the employee banter in between if you so desire. There is also an extra special 3D animated adventure, bringing “Gus Doesn’t Want to go to Vegas” into the next dimension. Darque Chcolate also makes the same transition, though only in the menu screen. The blooper reel for the scripted “Attack of the Burnies” also makes an appearance, as does time lapse footage of a RTAA being created, showing just how much effort goes into creating each and every frame.
It’s about to go down, Jersey Style!
Overall The Best of Red vs Blue Bundle is what it says. It’s a collection of some of the most memorable moments of RvB, RT Shorts and RTAA. The collection gives an overview of the various series and, coincidentally, provides trailers to see the rest. If you want to watch some Rooster Teeth productions, check out the Best of. All of which are found in this sizeable package…Bow Chicka Bow Wow!
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
The biggest prize in e-sports history hung in the balance last night as the 2 best DOTA 2 teams in the world stepped up to the grand final stage. Over 1 million people tuned in from across the globe on streams, at pubstomps, or if you were lucky enough to be there, at the Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Washington. The mood was electric, the teams ready, and the crowd barely had time to catch their breath as play after play was executed perfectly by these true masters of this fantastic, emerging game.
After a thrilling lower bracket final, the Ukranian powerhouse Na’Vi (Natus Vincere) managed to overcome an extremely strong Neolution Orange team to secure their place in the grand final against Alliance. To give credit where credit is due, Orange fought bravely in this tournament and their endurance was unmatched, having played more games than anyone else after dropping into the lower bracket quite early on. Their star player of the internationals had to be Mushi who seemed able to play any single hero he wants in any position while still being astounding.
As the build up to the grand final started, the feeling was like no other. The main hall was packed, twitter feeds were going wild, and as the Aegis of Champions was illuminated on centre stage the reality of that $1.4 million prize suddenly hit. Everybody thought Na’Vi had gone mad when they picked their first draft, opting to not only let Alliance take the most broken character in the game, Io, but picking a team of glass cannons themselves, seemingly hoping to shut Alliance down in the early game. Needless to say the risk didn’t pay off and match 1 was a complete wipe-out, giving Alliance the early lead. Standing strong though, Na’Vi played some of the finest DOTA I have ever seen and managed to pull back 2 games giving them the lead with just one more match to win for the championship.
Alliance are not a team to throw everything away on a risk though, and after a shock to their system they went back to what they know best … cool, calculated precision. The final 2 games were a lot harder on the meta-game and less shock picks were seen, but this meant that Alliance’s signature strategy of sitting back, getting farm, and coming out ahead in the mid/late game was allowed to thrive. 2 magnificent strategic games of DOTA later and the Alliance fans in the Benaroya Hall erupted as their team threw down their headsets and lifted the Aegis of Champions high and proud.
Alas, my earlier predictions of Na’Vi coming out on top after the group stages were wrong, but I did say never count out Alliance so I take some kind of personal victory in that! If you want to read my ranting about losing all my rares and general anime discussion then I can be found at @JamesMapley on twitter and be sure to follow @capsulecomputer for all the latest gaming and anime news, reviews, and discussion as soon as they go live.
