Wargaming have released today the latest tutorial video for their flight combat MMO, World of Warplanes. Viewable below, the video details specific traits and combat objects of each specialised plane class while showing some surprisingly pretty visuals.
Currently in its beta phase, newcomers to the free-to-play MMO can learn all about the ins and outs of air superiority, whether in a fighter, ground attack craft or heavy fighter.
Things can get chaotic, so the tutorial goes over the basics of cooperation within a flight unit which is the key to success, no matter which class you choose.
World of Warplanes for the PC sees players build a career as a virtual pilot and engage in 30 player dogfights during the so-called Golden Age of military aviation – from the biplanes of the 1930s to jet fighters from the Korean War.
Gamers from North America can sign up here, while those in Europe can head here.
A spin-off from the Jackass franchise (weird typing that word in relation to such a juvenile thing) has been born with Paramount‘s Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa – a Johnny Knoxville vehicle where he reprises his role of the title character, created and featured in the previous Jackass films. Here’s the official synopsis:
86 year-old Irving Zisman (Johnny Knoxville) is on a journey across America with the most unlikely companion, his 8 year-old Grandson Billy (Jackson Nicoll). This November, the signature Jackass character will take movie audiences along for the most insane hidden camera road trip ever captured on camera. Along the way, Irving will introduce the young and impressionable Billy to people, places and situations that give new meaning to the term ‘child rearing’.
The duo will encounter male strippers, disgruntled child beauty pageant contestants (and their equally disgruntled mothers), funeral home mourners, biker bar patrons and a whole lot of unsuspecting citizens. Real people in unreal situations, making for one really messed up comedy.
Magic the Gatheringis without a doubt one of, if not THE most popular trading card game in global circulation. Highly renowned for its easy to learn mechanics, distinctive strategic game style, immersive lore and stunning card artworks, the game has continued to grow in popularity for the past twenty years. Considered a card game for the adult audience when compared with the likes of Yu Gi Oh! and Vanguard, MtG has firmly cemented itself as the game to play for casual and hardcore tabletop gamers alike. But who exactly are the brains and working folks behind the design of this phenomenon? One such man is Aaron Forsythe’ the director of research and development for the MtG card game. This editor was one of a lucky few fortunate enough to have a chance to meet and chat with Aaron, having just flown in to be in attendance at PAX Aus 2013.
During a brief media roundtable in the Magic the Gathering freeplay area, a few lucky media reps, including myself got the chance to sit down to and pick his brain about some of the questions we had about what happens during the creative process of MtG. Aaron had only just arrived in Melbourne at the time, and it was clear that he was experiencing a little jetlag as he sat down to join us media monkeys. This was nothing a packet of jelly lollies didn’t fix, and soon we got straight into the questions.
After some introductions, praise and thanks were exchanged. We exchanged some personal stories about how much we play the MtG card game. As one might have expected, Aaron is of course, an avid MtG player himself, receiving his fair share of challengers in both the physical card game and the digital Duels of the Planeswalkers game. The roundtable actually featured a variety of players of different skill levels, one casual, one hardcore, and myself, the intermediate level player. It became pretty apparent that our varying levels of and experience exposure with the game created three very separate lines of questions.
The novice player’s questions centred largely around the new Duels of the Planeswalker game, as well as the player reception of both digital and card games. Aaron revealed that part of the appeal of the Duels of the Planeswalkers was not only getting newbies to the series engaged with the game, but also being able to reach out to fans who had played it in a past, but had taken something of a hiatus from playing. He inferred that drawing these long time fans back in to the fun was part of what made the MtG community so strong because of the wealth of experience. It was interesting to hear because this description was not all that different to the position I was in with MtG several years ago.
The hardcore player’s queries inquired about the games’ mechanics and the competitive nature of the games and tournaments. This was focused around technical aspects of both the digital and physical card game regarding AI and competition fairness, and brought up a few well known issues regarding balancing of certain core sets and combinations. Aaron’s responses were fairly level headed and he made mention that since the game is always evolving and changing so quickly, its very difficult to take note of a ‘common complaint’, simply because there isn’t one. With so many players with so many play styles and so many interpretations of the game, it’s impossible to 100% balance the game. That said, that afore mentioned evolving nature is why one glaring issue never hangs around for too long.
My own line of questions was centred more around Aaron’s own personal involvement with the franchise. After all, how often do you get to find out what the creator of a great game thinks about said game? I was particularly interested in finding out what elements of the MtG lore he enjoyed, and what areas that MtG could potentially expand into. As well as that, I was also interested to find out what has helped inspire the game to become the big hit it is today. Aaron mentioned that while the entire feel of the game is set to traditional fantasy, the ethos of the game is more akin to that of a superhero story, where the player, and many of the significant Planeswalker characters are the said heroes.
He made a mention that his particular favourite character of the series was the Vampire Lord Sorin Markov. His reasoning was that Sorin challenged the perception of what “Black” magic is. Often thought of as a magic of evil, Sorin brings a regal sense of sophistication and honour to both the lore of the game, and the Black colour play style. He said that Sorin is not clear cut good or evil. He protects the future of the human race, because vampires will always need humans to survive in something of a symbiotic relationship. It was this deep level of consideration for a single character that I found particularly memorable, and thought provoking.
Overall, the roundtable proved a very interesting experience. We got some very strong insight into the creative process behind Magic the Gathering, but we also got to know one of the creative minds on a personal level. Closing out the roundtable he also gave us all some practical advice when it comes those strange looks players sometimes get when they admit to playing a collectible card game. His thoughts:
“Those looks will never go away. But Geek Shiek is hot right now. Games are hot. Fantasy is hot… This turnout here is amazing. Treat it like a compliment, because it’s only going to be more prominent from here.”
The Capcom Network Games Conference was held yesterday in Japan, where Capcom introduced their upcoming online titles currently in development. Amongst the many social games revealed, some more information on the next-gen title Deep Down was released, which was first unveiled in a concept video back at the PlayStation Meeting 2013.
While we have the Tokyo Game Show to look forward for more insight (it will also be playable at TGS), it seems Deep Down is in fact an Online Only “Leading” RPG – naturally requiring an internet connection to play – as translated from the source; this official teaser site. The PS4 is the single platform announced for the title, although exclusivity to Sony‘s future flagship console hasn’t been confirmed. The Panta Rhei engine was also detailed. Check out the teaser trailer shown at the presentation directly below.
Minneapolis game developer Soul and Vibe Interactive Inc. announced that they have entered into an agreement with Mexico-based Larva Game Studios. The companies will collaborate to develop two new video game properties for the Soul and Vibe label, Soul and Vibe’s original IP (Intellectual Property) Grimwhiskers, and Larva Game Studios’ original IP Last Day On Earth. Larva Game Studios is to develop the games whilst Soul and Vibe will produce, publish, market, and manage distribution of the titles.
Ken Gratz (Product Development Director of Larva Game Studios) commented:
“Larva’s and Soul and Vibe’s team share a common goal of producing engaging and original content. This partnership will allow us to share our creativity with the world through Soul and Vibe’s distribution channels, and achieve greater consumer reach beyond what we are capable of alone. There is quite a bit of talent and experience in both companies, and I look forward to continuing this already synergistic relationship.”
Grimwhiskers takes players into the heart of the Caribbean with a band of misfit pirates on a quest to recover their most prized possession: their ship. Stolen from them by a diabolical, and seemingly smarter, enemy it is up to the crew to fight for what’s theirs, through a world of voodoo and magical lore. Draw weapons and run, jump, tumble, climb, swing, board, swim, and war-cry your way to fortune and glory. The game will be developed for consoles, mobile devices, and personal computers.
Set in the year is 2022, Last Day On Earth throws you into a disastrous time for humanity. The Earth as a whole faces a looming catastrophe, as an alien race called “The Hive” has successfully breached every developed nation’s defences. The aliens launch systematic in the hopes of destroying the last bastion on Earth: the island of Utopia. The game itself is a fusion of the third-person shooter and tower defence genres, furthering the atmosphere of conflict and struggle. Players are free to destroy and use the environment, collecting items and combining them to create traps, explosives, or upgrades to weaponry. Whatever it takes to hold off the aliens. The game will be released on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.
Peter Anthony Chiodo (Soul and Vibe CEO and President) stated:
“We are very excited to work with the talented development team at Larva on Grimwhiskers and Last Day On Earth. Grimwhiskers is a great IP that we are excited to share with gamers, and the studio has put a lot of hard work into Last Day On Earth. Larva has a very strong creative and programming talent; the play mechanics and overall tone of Last Day On Earth make it a very compelling gaming experience.”
Jorge Morales (Larva Game Studios’ CEO) added:
“Soul and Vibe’s multi-platform game development and launch strategy is ideal in today’s dynamic gaming industry. Tony has assembled a very impressive team and we are eager to start working with them to develop games that will excite and engage players the world over, from the United States to the fast emerging Latin American market.”
Keep an eye out for more information regarding the release dates for Last Day On Earth and Grimwhiskers. For more information, visit Soul and Vibe Interactive Inc. and Larva Game Studios on their officialsites and Facebookpages.
It was briefly revealed on Sony’s online media store Mora this Tuesday that the Kizumonogatari movie will be released in Japanese theatres this fall. Since its brief announcement Mora has taken down the listing, but one feels that this was probably to cover their mistake rather than because the date was wrong. Kizumonogatari is being produced by Aniplex who are owned by Sony Music Entertainment so the date appearing on one of Sony’s own distribution services seems very likely to be accurate.
Kizumonogatari details the events of what happened before Bakemonogatari that up until now have only been explained in the novel and in flashes of text at the beginning of Bakemonogatari’s first episode. It will go over Koyomi Araragi’s fateful encounter with a vampire and how he manages to maintain his humanity after being made one himself.
SHAFT is animating the movie that seems to be set for this fall. It is just one of the 16 light novels written by Nisioisin in the Monogatari series, 5 of which are being adapted in the currently running Monogatari Series Second Season. News of the final release date and any new projects by Nisioisin, following the ending of Bakemonogatari and his other project Medaka Box will surely be reported here.
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.
