PAX AUS 2013 was a major opportunity for various international game developers and publishers to show off their latest titles to the Australian public. As a die-hard fan of a certain blue perpetually moving rodent, I was quite excited at the prospect of getting to play test Sonic Lost World months ahead of its release for the WiiU and 3DS. Since SEGA was not in attendance at the event themselves, Sonic Lost World was part of an extensive demo line-up at the Nintendo exhibit, alongside franchises like Zelda, Mario and Pikmin. 20 years ago, who’d have thought that Sonic the Hedgehog would be premiering his new game at a Nintendo booth?
Only the 3DS version was available on the showroom floor, as the WiiUs were each occupied with copies of either Pikmin 3 or Wind Waker HD. Even so, I was excited to get down and give this new little morsel a try. Taking a seat at one of the demo tables, I put away my own 3DS and picked up the demo XL console. The demo started at a title screen, offering a choice of three stages, including a tutorial stage. I recalled the news that Sonic now had access to “all new moves” so I thought it in my best interest to attempt to learn what these were before my ignorance led me to plummet off a cliff. Selecting the tutorial stage, I was dropped right into the 3D action.
My first immediate reaction was in drawing similarities between the stage structure and that of Mario Galaxy. The level layout of cylindrical and circular dimensional stages was the clincher. For those who have played a 3D “modern” Sonic game before, there were definitely a variety of familiar control features. The use of the basic jump, homing attack and stomp moves were as they were before. Interestingly though, this game sees the return of Sonic’s signature ‘Spin-Dash’ move, replacing the ‘Sonic-running-right-through-enemies’ method employed in Unleashed, Colours and Generations.
Numerous other controls have also been added to the mix, such as the ability to now string up to five homing attacks together. The most distinguishing of the new control features however, are the additions of environment scaling abilities, specifically in the form of wall running. This allowed the blue blur to run along or up vertical surfaces of each stage.
Now, while the wall running and parkour-style climbing mechanics allow the stages to be open for greater exploration, each time I had to do so, there was a distinctive break in speed and flow when it came to these sections. Part of what defines the appeal of a Sonic game is to be found in the speed and pacing. Interrupting this flow is fine for puzzle or platform sections that need a bit of consideration before movement, but in the distinct speed oriented sections, the wall run feels a little foreign. Having only a brief ten minute playtest of two stages, I did not have a large amount of time to acclimatise myself to the new control scheme. Perhaps in the final release, the pacing will feel more natural.
The visual design of the game retains the same cartoonish charm that titles like the Sonic Colours and the original Genesis titles were so well loved for. The first stage of the game undoubtedly takes its inspiration from the original Green Hill Zone. Classic enemy designs are found throughout, including the Motobug, Buzz Bombers and several minibosses shown in the form of giant Caterkillers.
Although there was no indication of any story elements thus far, the playtest was still enjoyable. And I for one am happy to see the blue blur back in action. Sonic Lost World is slated for release October 22nd this year.
After just getting our hands-on with the single-player campaign of Killzone: Mercenary, Sony have announced that the public beta for the online multiplayer portion of the PS Vita shooter will start near the end of the month, with registration now open. The closed beta is taking place right now – if you haven’t got an invite, it’s too late now.
Accompanying this news is our first look at the multiplayer in-action with a new development diary that can be viewed embedded at the bottom of this article. The video features members of the Guerrilla Cambridge team, including lead designer Gareth Hughes, describing the nature of the mode; how your campaign acquisitions, earnings and unlocks will carry over, and an explanation of the new inclusion of Valour Cards – which we touched upon briefly in our hands-on preview mentioned above – among other tidbits.
With DuckTales now under two weeks from a release, it is time to get some hype flowing through those veins. Today, Capcom have released yet another postcard trailer from our good friend Launchpad, which displays the African Mines stage in full.
Collecting treasure, bouncing on his trusty cane, and platforming through the stage is all general fare for our hero Scrooge, and this little gem is looking as good as ever. Check out the clip below, and prepare to pick up DuckTales: Remastered when it hits the Wii U, PS3, and PC on August 13th, with a release date on September 11th for the XBLA.
Droidscape Basilica Developer: Kyttaro Tech Publisher: Kyttaro Tech Platforms:iPhone (Reviewed), iPod Touch, iPad Release Date: 30th July 2013 Price: $0.99 – Available Here
Overview
With the large amount of puzzle and strategy games out there on the market I tend to see myself begging new developers to please add more to a game than just plain, boring puzzles, they get old and they get boring and there are so many of them that now there’s an overpopulation, well, it seems like someone out there heard by metaphorical prayers and they went ahead and made Droidscape Basilica. While not being exactly the type of puzzle game that I enjoy, it is still a great game with a lot of lasting features.
Story
There actually is a story to this game even though it’s just an action-puzzle game. Basically the story revolves around a group of people that call themselves Chronomancers, they can control the flow of time. These Chronomancers were sought after and wiped out because of their incredible power, it was mostly due to jealousy and a religious group but let’s not get into that. Now there’s one left, that’s you, and he’s been taken into custody by the opposing force yet just before they locked him away he managed to sneak a remote control device into the cell, this remote control device controls the robot Bishop 7 who you will manuever through all the puzzles and obstacles throughout the game. The end game is that you guide this robot through all of the security and to your cell where he will set you free but considering the dev team havn’t finished creating levels; that may never happen. There is a rich story behind it, there are tribes who wear animal masks (I believe they are the Chronomancers), there are religious groups who dislike the mancers, there’s a war and it all took place in space.
Now while there is this deep background story I have to take points away because the entirety of it is told in an opening cutscene which you can skip through just by tapping the screen. This cut scene pops up every time you start the game but I feel like it’s too skipable and it kind of rushes through what I think can be an incredible story. It tells such a vast history in no more than thirty seconds and I thought that was a bit of a wasted chance to bring more depth to this game. Droidscape Basilica needs some sort of easily-digestible, small comic that just explains more of the story. I know it’s just a puzzle game and half of you out there won’t even worry about the story but I just feel that if you’re going to do something do it as good as you possibly can because then all that is left is wasted potential.
Visuals
This game is quite nice when it comes to the visuals. I would say it’s nice to look at but it really isn’t…and that’s great! Your screen is meant to resemble the screen of the controller that you’re using from the jail cell so it’s rusted, it’s gritty, it’s dirty and it fits like a glove. The fact that all, or most, of the animation is actually done through “Stop motion animation” is incredible. It’s something that isn’t often done but it shows the amount of effort the development team put in and that;s admirable. It’s very rustic, very steampunk-ish and very suited to the game.
Audio
When starting the game there’s a little notice in the right-hand corner that says “better experienced with headphones” and they’re not wrong there, while playing the game without them is still real nice, playing with them is definitely the better alternative. You just hear a lot more of the environment and the entire game just seems so much more crisp and clear. The audio itself is nice on it’s own, apart from small things like the robot screaming when he is killed which was fairly annoying because it just added to your frustration when you can’t pass a level. The music is creepy and suspenseful, even though it’s the same track repeated most of the time I didn’t find myself getting annoyed because I was too busy concentrating on the actual level.
Gameplay
The gameplay works in two different parts but first let me explain the layout. It’s a birds eye view of the entire stage where you can see obstacles and enemies to dodge, it’s set out like a small maze. there are crystals to get for points and key cards to get for opening doors and completing the level, to complete the level you NEED the yellow key card. Simple as that. Now part one of gameplay is you setting out what path the robot should take, so you draw a line from the robot to the door while collecting everything and anticipating where enemies will be moving. Part two is you watching it play out and determining whether Bishop 7 goes fast, slow, forwards or backwards or just straight out stops. You must keep an eye on your energy bar though, it forces you to choose where you move wisely. The layout of the gameplay is great, it’s easy to grasp, it’s actually different from other puzzle games and it just feels nice, it seems to flow. I really have no complaints when it comes to gameplay, maybe apart form the fact that it’s a hard game, or maybe I’m just a crappy puzzle game player. There’s also a different way to control Bishop 7 which is with the movement of your head, leaning to the right will make him faster and leaning to the left will make him slower, I didn’t find this too fun or as even a good way to play so I kind of stood clear of it once I tried it. It was awkward to use and it kind of makes your neck hurt a bit.
Overall
In end I like this game, I think it’s a cool little action-puzzler that you can play anywhere at anytime considering there’s really only two things for you to do in order to start a level, it looks good, it plays good, the only problem I have with it was the story, well, lack there of. It’s a big thing for me because I feel like it gives the play a purpose to actually play the game and, honestly, I just liked the idea of the story and want to snag more information about it. It’s still a great game at the end of the day and puzzle-lovers will go nuts over it.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Today it was revealed by none other than Deadpool himself via Activision that the company has released some new DLC for Deadpool‘s game which was released last month. The DLC is available now for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and costs $2.99 or 240MSP depending on the console.
Those who pick up the “Merc with a Map Pack” DLC will be able to access two new maps for Challenge Mode, which are the GRT Plaza and the Inside the Tower maps as well as two new costumes for Deadpool to wear, an Uncanny X-Force Suit and his “D-Pooly.” Also revealed today was the fact that the Xbox 360 version of Deadpool has been released on Games on Demand. As for the PlayStation 3 version, you can check out our full review of that version here.
While rare in appearance at PAX Aus 2013, there were a few booth babes scattered around the event. The Sennheiser stand featured a small female police squad ready to take Charlies Angels like photos with everyone and inform attendees of the latest headphones being made available from the longtime hi-fi equipment producer.
I actually went up to the stand because I wanted to play Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (which explains the police theme the girls had adopted), but left with a fantastic impression of the Sennheiser U320 gaming headphones which were available to demo. The sound was phenomenal. It was clear, loud and the coolest thing was I was picking up sounds I just wasn’t noticing before such as all the subtleties of the engine or lightly scraping a fence or road sign. It was truly amazing to be immersed in the game at an event with thousands of other people wandering around.
The U320 gaming headphones at PAX Aus
The U320 can be used on your Xbox 360, PS3, PC or MAC and features a mic that hosts noise cancellation technology and can be muted by simply raising it back to the default position. The CircleFlex technology ensures the headphones will sit comfortably on your ears and there is an audio control device attached to the cord so you can control the in-game and chat volume as well as access the side tones and bass boost feature.
The other pair of headphones Sennheiser were keen to demonstrate at PAX were the recently announced Momentum On-Ear headphones which will be available in four different colours upon launch. Style and substance is a large focus of the Momentum’s, with the stainless steel headband and headphones being finished in Alcantara, which is a high tech luxury material known for it’s comfort, durability and breathability. I personally tired on a pair and they were indeed as comfortable as they sound.
Sennheiser’s Momentum On-Ear Headphones come in a range of colours
The sound has not been compromised at all as the high end 18-ohm transducers guarantee full surround sound. The closed on-ear design helps ensure that outside noises are blocked out and that the user can have an isolated and comfortable music listening experience. The headphones come equipped with a detachable cord featuring inline controls for recieving and making phone calls and controlling music playback on Apple devices.
The U320 gaming headphones are available now at a RRP of $199.95. You will have to wait a bit longer to get your hands on the Momentum On-Ear headphones however, as they will be releasing in Australia sometime in August. For more information on these and other Sennheiser products, please visit the Official Sennheiser Website.
Dragon’s Crown Developer:Vanillaware Publisher:Atlus USA Platform: PlayStation Vita (Reviewed), PlayStation 3 Release Date: August 6, 2013 Price: $49.99 – Available Here
Overview Dragon’s Crown has had a difficult journey on its way to store shelves. After it was announced back in 2011, news for the game went dark and the game’s Western publisher dropped out of the running. Then when Atlus picked the title up for release, many juvenile controversies were raised over something the developer has been doing since they started making games. However they say that whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, so has Dragon’s Crown become an excellent game that everyone should be picking up?
Story Dragon’s Crown’s storyline is unfortunately not one of the game’s strong points as it mostly serves as a system that gives players incentive to continue forward and unlock new aspects of the game as they venture through numerous dungeons. Players will meet new allies and enemies as they make their way through countless bosses as they complete a pre-determined set of missions and optional side-quests.
There is however, more to the game than meets the eye, since players will be able to navigate through the nine areas provided in the game and then through the “B-side” of these stages to not only encounter new enemies and hidden areas, but also face off against different bosses ultimately leading up to the game’s final boss.
While minimalistic, the way that Dragon’s Crown presents its story is similar to what one would experience from a Dungeons & Dragons table-top adventure and provides just enough structure for players to engross themselves in the game.
Gameplay Dragon’s Crown is clearly a beat’em up style game based in a fantastical medieval setting. Players have the option of choosing between six different classes, each of whom feature unique combat abilities and skills. There is the Fighter, the Dwarf, the Wizard, the Amazon, the Sorceress and the Elf to choose from and while some beat’em ups may simply reskin the same fighter so that, while they look different, they play the exact same, Dragon’s Crown is the exact opposite of that.
Before we even consider class customization and character differences, it is worth noting that calling Dragon’s Crown a simple beat’em up would be doing the game a disservice since it is far more than that, as it features status effects, air combos, juggling, ranged and melee differences, dodging and much more, including the ability to ride animals into combat and wield limited use items. Each class has special abilities to make them useful in combat, though it is worth noting that the two magic using characters probably play the most similar to one another in the entire roster.
The Elf, my personal pick, is versatile with swift close-range combo attacks that can lead to air juggling and punishing ground slams as well as a bow that deals superior damage to enemies. However the Elf’s arrows are limited and must be gathered from defeated opponents or boxes to replenish her supply. This is then accented by the way that players will be able to level up characters and unlock skills to further customize their experience.
Each class is given character specific skills as well as “Common” skills that are shared amongst the classes. This means that even if you were to venture into combat with four different Elf characters, each one may have a different set of skills and playstyle. However shifting focus away from the Elf for a bit, every class is capable of being useful in combat, since the Fighter has the ability to block, the Dwarf can throw enemies and the magic users can summon allies to fight alongside the party. It is also worth noting that there are numerous character slots available to each save file, allowing players to shift their class around if they feel like trying out the other classes.
As you venture through the various dungeons, players will see enemies scale to their level in a way that makes it so every level is always a dangerous venture. Even some of the beginning areas scale up to the player’s level which means that even some of the early levels can be as fun to play as some of the later dungeons, making older dungeons feel like less of a chore and more like something to conquer once again.
Those concerned about the multiplayer aspect of don’t have to worry too much about fighting alone, since players can find bones of dead adventurers in dungeons. These bones can then be resurrected into adventurers that will travel alongside the player through these fights, as AI companions that will take the place of other players. These companions do not level up however and their equipment can break and disappear however, meaning that players must manage their party or else find their allies under-leveled and under-equipped for new challenges.
Once the player completes the game, there is the option to restart the game and enter into a harder difficulty level, which raises the level cap on the player’s characters. On the basic Normal mode, characters are capped at 35, with Hard Mode and Inferno Mode allowing players to level up to 65 and 99 respectively. There is even a bit of PVP available for gamers who want to face off against others online, or bots if they feel like, and a randomly generated dungeon named Labyrinth of Chaos that expand the game’s playtime to staggering levels.
It is worth noting that while this review is based off of the PlayStation 3 version of Dragon’s Crown, I was able to try out the Vita version as well. The Vita version of the game appears similar to the PS3 version minus some drops in visual quality and some slowdown during intense moments but it also features a touch screen option. This touch screen allows players to reveal extra loot in dungeon levels as well as tell your trusty thief friend what doors and treasure chests to unlock.
The same can be accomplished on the PlayStation 3 but rather than being able to simply tap the objects, players must navigate a pointer across the screen with an analog stick and use a shoulder button to tap any objects they want opened or examined. It is also worth noting that there is no cross play between the two systems, which is disappointing to say the least since it fractures the userbase, but thanks to the aforementioned companion system, it isn’t too much of an issue.
Visuals As far as aesthetics go, anyone familiar with what Vanillaware has done in the past should know what to expect, and that is a breathtaking art style where it appears that everything in the world, including player characters and enemies, are hand drawn from scratch. The characters each feature an exaggerated character trait similar to what one would find on old movie posters or old Dungeon & Dragon’s style artwork and there are a number of color palette swaps for each character in the game.
As far as enemies go, fodder opponents are varied well enough and while there are a few duplicates here and there, each enemy has a unique look to it, especially with boss battles against some truly inspiring looking opponents. The combat is fluid and fast paced, with no slowdown on the PlayStation 3 version of the title even when all four fighters are battling enemies at the same time.
Audio As I mentioned above, the story of Dragon’s Crown feels like a genuine Dungeons & Dragons adventure and the main reason for that is everything in your adventure, including preludes into dungeons, quest discussion and more is narrated by the narrator and the only times that characters make any noise is when they are fighting or performing in game actions, creating a game that feels like a dungeon master is controlling everything as you make your way through his game.
The game’s background soundtrack is impressive and fits the medieval fantasy theme of the game, with numerous epic sounding dungeon tracks as well as some calmer themes for when the player is navigating town or inside of a building.
Overall Vanillaware, and for their part Atlus, have given gamers something special in Dragon’s Crown. Despite a minimalistic storyline, the game is positively glowing in every other aspect. The way that the title presents itself with its unique art style and storytelling paired alongside fast paced, gratifying combat makes Dragon’s Crown easily the best, if not the best, side-scroller beat’em up to grace the gaming world.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
This video right here is a real gem and not one to pass up. If you’re a fan of the TMNT franchise you’ll already know about this cool TMNT game coming out which is set for release on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and on the PC through Steam, it’s called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and it’s looking damn fine! It’s looking fairly gritty and, honestly, it’s unlike a TMNT game we’ve ever seen before which is really good and in a generation of gritty, fairly dark, reboots of old series’ this one is sure to win over audiences.
The guys behind the game (Activision Publishing and Red Fly Studio) wanted to give players new visions of familiar places. New York City will your playground, as it usually is for the Turtles, and it’s gritty, neon-saturated style will be sure to help you get the different feel that this game is going to be sending across to you. The team wanted you to not only see the different world of the game they also want you to hear it and feel it inside yourself as you play, that’s why they went to Hip-Hop Producer and Collaborator, Just Blaze.
In the video, which you can see below, Just Blaze takes the audience through the creation of the sountrack and how he related certain songs to certain characters and places to help aid the player into feeling more immersed in the world and story. He also talks about the challenges behind put a new spin on and old classic and also how he draws inspiration through working on a series like this that he has loved since he was a child.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is set for release on the 28th of August on the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and the PC (Steam). It will only be released for digital download so keep an eye out for it on the web and keep your eyes on the site for any and all new information to be released.
Kumotion, a new-on-the-scene mobile game publisher, announced today that Pocket Titans, an adventure RPG, will be ready for gamer consumption in September on iPhone and iPad.
Pocket Titans is a turn-based RPG puzzle adventure game. Set in a fantasy world with mages, rogues, and orcs, it blends tactical decision making with casual puzzle play to create what is being described as “Candy Crush meets XCOM meets Game of Thrones.”
Developed by two gentlemen over the last 18 months, the game will come with 8 playable character classes, 30 enemy classes, boss battles, and head-to-head two-player battles.
Pocket Titans is currently undergoing closed beta. When it releases in Semptember, it will be priced at $0.99/€0.79/£0.69. You can check out their official website here.
You thought you’d be seeing the new characters here but instead you got, I, Dio!
As the weeks and months roll by we’re seeing more and more from the CyberConnect2/Namco Bandai game JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle. We’ve seen so many characters added and so many crowd favourites making their return to the screen, or even debut, this time we’re seeing two more characters added. The developers behind this game can really do no wrong when it comes to adding characters to the roster, it seems as though every JJBA character has his or her own fan base so no matter what it’s bound to make someone happy in the end.
Funny Valentine.
The characters President Funny Valentine from the Steel Ball Run part of the series and Kosaku Kawajiri from the Diamond is UNbreakable part of the series will both be added into the game. We have extensive information on exactly what there move-sets are going to be like but hard-core fans of the series can do some educational speculation as to how they will fight.
Kosaku Kawajiri.
The game is slated for release in Japan on the 29th of August on the Playstation 3, so not too far away, we have no idea when or even if it will ever hit our shores but fans all over are praying that it won’t be too long until we see some awesome JoJo’s Bizarre Adventureaction! Keep your eyes on the site for any news or information to be released and head down to our comments section below and let your voice be heard.
