Grip Games, publisher and developer of games like The Impossible Game, have recently released a gameplay trailer for their new game strategy fighting game Atomic Ninjas, set for release in later this year.
This colourful and funny multiplayer action game allows the player to control super-powered ninjas and take down arenas full of ninjas. Atomic Ninjas doesn’t let you directly kill your opponents. You must outsmart your opponents and utilise the various environmental obstacles and hazards, such as laser beams, traps, lava pits, moving platforms and many other moving and falling hazards.
Each of the seven arenas are like playfields, with an infinite number of possibilities to eliminate your opponents and competition. On each arena there are crates, pick-ups, lifts, levers, ninja-launchers, traps and hiding spots players can experiment with.
The trailer, released yesterday on the official website, showed exclusive gameplay, giving everyone an insight into the game’s arenas, many obstacles, weapons and power-ups. Atomic Ninjas official site introduces us to the six playable ninjas; Sergei, the Ninja, The Very Last Samurai, Masked Ninja, Rogue Ninja, Old Monk and Psycho Ninja.
In late summer this year, Atomic Ninjas will be available for purchase on the PS3 and PS Vita.
The fall 2012 season exhibited some wonderful anime titles, especially in the romance genre which was bursting with quality shows like Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai, Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, and Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun. One of the shows that stood out the most in my mind though was Sukitte Ii na yo (Say “I love you”), an adaptation of the shōjo manga now in its eleventh volume. This wonderful tale of the awkward love between two people who are both clueless about love captured my heart, and that is why I am excited to report that the eleventh volume of the manga is to be released with a sleeve that says a live-action film is being made and will be released in 2014.
This beautiful love story revolves around an unpopular girl with no desire to make friends called Tachibana Mei. After a misunderstanding, she ends up kicking the most popular boy in school, Kurosawa Yamato, down a flight of stairs. Seeing her as an interesting person, he begins to pursue Mei and tries to befriend her. However, Mei is having none of it and thinks this is some new form of bullying. Her mind is changed though when Yamato scares off a stalker by kissing her in the street, thus inspiring romantic feelings in her pure 16 year old heart.
An OVA will also be released with the eleventh volume to accompany the original anime series which ended in December 2012. No news of a second season has been released, but with its ending left open and further content being created, we can always hold out hope.
Yesterday at Comic-Con, writer/director Joss Whedon took to the stage to announce the official title for his upcoming Avengers sequel; Avengers: Age of Ultron. This left many die-hard comic book fans excited, quickly followed by being confused.
In the comic books, Ultron is a machine created by a Mr. Hank Pym (or better known as Ant Man). However, the Ant Man movie, while planned, isn’t slated for release until Marvel’s Phase 3 (AFTER Avengers 2). So of course the internet was awash with rumours and questions; “has the Ant Man movie been pushed forward?” “Will Pym be introduced in Avengers 2?” so on and so forth.
Less than 24 hours after the announcement, Whedon clarified and stated that Hank Pym will definitely not be making an appearance in Age of Ultron, and as such the evil android’s origin would be changed. Marvel and Disney being as secretive as they are, this is likely all we will know for some time.
As a little side-note, Whedon also confirmed that Hawkeye would be returning to the team (even though his character was met with the most lukewarm of reactions compared to the other cast members). So the director himself has answered some questions, while at the same time bringing up a whole world of others.
What do you think will happen? Will Tony Stark be the one responsible for Ultron’s creation? How about Bruce Banner? Let us know in the comments below, and for all things Avengers: Age of Ultron, be sure to stay tuned to Capsule Computers. Oh, and if you need an avengers kick, Marvel announced a big update to their Avenger’s Alliance game today too.
It’s a pretty well known fact that we gamers don’t just play hard. We party hard too. In the wake of the huge success of the very first PAX to be held on Australian shores, various media and staff attendees of the Expo ha the chance to exercise this at the official Roosterteeth after party held on Saturday the 20th of July. The party itself was held at Melbourne’s Kodiak Club on Brunswick Street. The party, graciously organised by Hanabee Entertainment had food and drinks galore, with a free bar tab for the VIP attendees.
The theme of the evening was everything Roosterteeth, in honour of the three special guests in attendance: Michael “Burnie” Burns, known for his leadership role in the company and the voices of RedvsBlue’s Church and Lopez; Gustavo “Gus” Sorola, the company’s tech-head and the voice of RvB’s Simmons; and Jack Pattillo known for his work on Achievement Hunter.
Despite their fame as internet and gaming celebrities, the boys were more than happy to spend a good five hours getting to know a number of their Australian fans outside of the standard expo meet, greet and sign. Gus himself described it as “like having thousands of friends around the world”, men and women with whom they could share a beer and a good laugh. It was humbling to be reminded that their successes aside, they were just regular guys who enjoy playing video games as much as many of us do.
Throughout the course of the night, the boys were most certainly the focus of attention, but it was also a great opportunity for like minded fans to meet and make new friends. Our own staff of editors had a bet settled by Burnie who pointed out that a meat pie for breakfast is acceptable, Jack was determined not to let any Australian drink him under the table and Gus provided some valuable insight into the similarities between Melbourne and Austin, Texas.
Of course, no Roosterteeth themed evening would be complete with references and ties ins galore. The Kodiak offered a special menu of RedvsBlue drinks appropriately served in themed cups depending on which drink you were partial to. The club was also covered with Roosterteeth wall decor, including Churchisms, Sargisms, quotes from RvB, Achievement Hunter logos and a large banner advertising Roosterteeth’s latest production RWBY.
Sufficed to say it was a great night with good times had by all, and made a great end to another great day of PAX. Given the positive response from both attendees and exhibitors alike, one can only hope that PAX AUS will be slated as an annual event. So if you missed out on meeting some of your favourite internet personalities, then keep your eyes peeled for any news regarding PAX AUS 2014.
Following the rather disheartening news that the latest instalment in the Saints Row franchise had effectively been banned in Australia, many Aussie fans of this wacky sandbox series will pleased to find out that the game HAS been re-slated for release as Saints Row IV: Australian Edition. This special regional version of the game will only have a very small number of content alterations made to the release, namely the changing of the names of “drugs” to “stimulants” and the removal of the “Alien Probe” weapon. Besides these, the game will effectively be the same as the international edition. That’s right folks, the purple phallic baseball bat made it past the censors.
Attendees at PAX AUS 2013 had the opportunity to play test the Australian version for themselves. Entry to the “behind-the-covers” black room was appropriately restricted to R18+ audiences. Players were ushered in a dozen at a time and seated at one of twelve demo stations to experience the mayhem for themselves.
And “mayhem” is the appropriate word to describe it, because the gameplay elements of this instalment were the wackiest and most outrageous yet. The short demo immediately dropped the player into the world already equipped with a variety of powerful and unique weapons such as the Black Hole Generator and Laser Sword. But easily the most outrageous and game changing feature of the demo was the variety of powers at the player’s disposal. Players were able to supercharge a jump to reach incredible heights, glide over the streets of the city, defy gravity and run up walls parkour style, and dash around at ridiculous speeds. Remember when you needed to jack cars in these sorts of games? Well not anymore. The speed of the player characters run is liable to replace any need for vehicles (not that it would stop us doing it anyway.) That said, the ability to perform these feats of your own accord added a very powerful sense of freedom in a game genre that already focused on that element.
The standard control scheme of the player character still applies, so long running fans will be pleased to see an element maintained. Similarly, despite the history of Australian version game releases, the toning down of violence was minimal. Blood effects were still applied, and the player can still perform a number of suggestive and R rated melee take downs. The alien menace also made for a very interesting set of enemies to fight, as they did not move or fight like any of the gangs the Saints have faced previously. Flying enemies in particular were a challenge to shoot down. While the demo did not feature any story elements, this was but little taste of what is to come. Fans will be able to pick up the full retail version of Saints Row IV on August 23, 2013. Be sure to also check out our earlier hands on preview for the normal version of Saints Row IV here.
At this year’s San Diego Comic Con, Marvel Games, and Disney Interactive, like most other entertainment companies, held a a panel discussion regarding their upcoming projects. One of the main focuses of the discussion was the hit Facebook game; Avengers Alliance.
The first bit of Alliance news was the fact that the Facebook iteration would be receiving a massive content update. The content will bring the game forward into its “Season 2” stage, and offer a new new Chapter Mastery system, as well as new missions, bonuses and rewards. The most anticipated feature of the ‘Season 2’ Update is that Heroic Battles will be finally implemented into the game. Heroic battles are fights between superheroes and villains, without the aid or input from agents. These Heroic Battles will feature some popular match-ups like Wolverine vs Sabertooth.
A new Spec Op mission will also be introduced. This mission will revolve around the “Dark Reign” storyline from the comics, and will have S.H.I..E.L.D’s Defense Mandate overruled by the World Council after an industrial accident, while a team of Dark Avengers has been created to battle the Avengers. If the player successfully beats this mission they will unlock Ares as a playable character.
Avengers Alliance will also be making its way to Playdom.com. Playdom is a free online gaming site, and players who sign up to Avengers Alliance through them will receive an exclusive in-game item that cleanses strike teams of all negative effects, and imparts healing effects to all allies.
Marvel also announced that the latest Spec Op mission for the iOS iteration of Avengers Alliance will be coming in the very near future. Also mentioned was the fact that Chapter 1 – Episode 6 would be available on the device in early August. If you haven’t done so yet, grab Avengers Alliance for iOS here (the game is free of charge and is definitely a fun experience).
That is a heap of Avengers Alliance news, (which ties in nicely to the Avengers 2 news that was revealed at the con) and there is definitely no shortage of ways for you to play the great game. Facebook, Playdom and iOS all offer the game free of charge (although with optional microtransactions) so be sure to give it a whirl.
Comic Con is wrapping up for another year, but the news doesn’t stop there. Stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Avengers and Video Game news as it becomes available.
Aarklash: Legacy is an upcoming adventurestrategyRPG being developed by Cyanide (Of Orcs And Men, Game of Thrones). We recently had the opportunity to get our hands on a preview build. Note that this does not represent the final product and some things may still change.
Based on the Confrontation figurine universe, Aarklash: Legacy puts you in command of a band of mercenaries. Known as “wheel swords,” these mercenaries are the hands that carry out the will of the guilds they serve and are grouped together in “quorps”. You’re initially given control of four such wheel swords – Nella, Denzil, Wendaroo, and Knokka.
Nella is a strong-willed mage. She’s the leader of the quarp and a fiend with a flame. Denzil is the group’s thief. He’s also the only goblin who’s been known to steal both for and from the Goldmonger’s guild. Wendaroo is a Wolfen with a truly canine ferocity. She’s also both a determined warrior and a fantastic healer. Of the initial quarp, that leaves only Knokka. She is almost a sort of free-willed golem, created by the Scorpion Fleshmages for the purpose of seeking out precious metals. She is the group’s tank and a heavy hitter with her great two-handed sword. You’ll get to meet up to four more as you progress through the game as well.
When the game opens, your quarp is retrieving an item from a wealthy lord that is owed to the Goldmongers’ Guild. When they have to fight their way out and reach him, they realize there’s something far more sinister going on than a man that didn’t want to pay his debts. This sets up a much more epic journey that our adventurers will have to undertake, and it will be no easy task.
Aarklash: Legacy will immediately feel somewhat familiar to some – especially fans of games like Baldur’s Gate or Icewind Dale. Like those classics, it’s an isometric role-playing game where you’re granted the ability to pause the action. Doing so allows you to assign commands to each member of your team. You’re then free to unpause the game and let action play out.
The way the combat is designed, halting the action will be required for nearly every encounter. You’ll want to make sure your tank is drawing fire, but you also want to ensure your entire party is working effectively to dismantle the foes at hand.
In a game with such an intense strategy element, knowledge is power. You’re granted the ability to look at each foe you face. Expanding on their portraits in the interface will let you see their special skills. More importantly, it lets you see their defensive strengths and weaknesses. This allows you to decide who to attack, in what order, and how. Not everything is cut-and-dry, as battle situations literally shift on the fly, so you have to constantly monitor the entire situation. It does a great job keeping the players engaged in combat while maintaining the feel of strategy over action.
Combat can be devilishly difficult at times. If you fail to size up an opponent correctly or you don’t use a particular skill in certain situations, it can turn the whole battle on its head. You can go from being handily on top of the situation one second to scrambling for your life the next.
For that very reason you need to make sure you’ve got everything ready to go before engaging in combat. This includes saving the game. Autosaves currently feel like they’re spaced too far apart, so if fail to save it yourself and get wrecked in an encounter, you could be retreading a lot of familiar ground.
Outfitting your team is going to be a constant endeavor. Finding treasure chests and taking out difficult enemies will reward you with a handful of rings, necklaces, and talismans. You’ll want to make sure each member of your quarp has what best suits their role equipped. Unfortunately, that’s the extent of outfitting your team as of right now. There are no weapons or armor you’ll get to work with, and that’s a little disappointing.
Skill progression is also a big part of how you’ll make your characters your own. Each character will get up to four skills at their disposal, but you can hone and customize these via the skill tree once its available. This presents a fantastic sense of making the characters your own while adapting them to fit your playstyle.
Storytelling is done through both written text and spoken dialog. The voice acting feels like they do a fine job of delivering their lines. Denzil and Wendaroo feel particularly well played, from the shady, high pitched goblin to the snarling, growling Wolfen warrior. There are no CG cutscenes. Everything is done with the game engine, and it works great.
The game looks fantastic at this stage. Characters are well animated, spells and attacks feel fluid and look fantastic, and environments are vibrant and lively. The interface is easy to deal with, too. Fans of those classic isometric titles looking for a modern twist will be pleased with Aarklash: Legacy.
There are some hidden goodies mixed into the game as well. You can find hidden treasure or rare, difficult fights that yield some fantastic prizes and challenges. These extra little flares show that the dev team isn’t just working to finish their title – they have a real love for the product they’re pouring themselves into. That’s an excellent, reassuring feeling.
Whether an old-school fan or a newcomer to games of this style, Aarklash: Legacy is definitely something worth getting excited about. The game looks and sounds fantastic, the characters are unique and fun, character customization will be deep enough to sink your teeth into, and the intense strategy gameplay will keep you coming back for more until the tale of the wheel swords has come to a close. Be sure to keep an eye out for this game when in the coming months. It’s currently set to be available to the public in September 2013, but it will be worth the wait. In the meantime, you can check out their official website and forums to see what’s going on.
We have 10 From Up On Poppy Hill prize packs to give away courtesy of MADMAN. The prize packs include the following:
A copy of From Up On Poppy Hill on DVD Or Blu-Ray
Plus – Key Ring, Charm and A4 folder
To win simply leave a comment below answering the following question along with with what format of From Up On Poppy Hill you’d like you win (DVD or Blu-Ray) and we’ll pick 10 lucky winners:
Why do you want to win From Up On Poppy Hill?
We’ll pick 10 lucky winners on the 31st of July. Make sure you use a valid email when you register/post your comment so we can email you if you are one of our winners.
We see a lot of titles that are based off a big-screen adaptation these days. Around five years ago, we would have expected mediocrity from licensed titles, but developers such as Rocksteady and WayForward have shown us that good things can happen from these little romps – if the said game is handled correctly. R.I.P.D. The Game tries to ditch substance and provide players with a wave-based third person shooter, featuring elements from the movie and plenty of power-ups and the usual fare mixed in. It sounds like a simple concept, but that is exactly the kind of game that works for licensed brands these days – and at a lower price point than usual, most would easily indulge in this game on idea alone. Does R.I.P.D. The Game do enough to warrant a purchase? Let’s find out.
Gameplay
With most licensed titles, I would normally have a little “Story” section at the beginning of the review, but R.I.P.D. The Game has nothing even close to a narrative, so that is one element fans of the flick should not expect. Instead, this title is a wave-based shooter that features the likeness of Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds, who are tasked with arresting and taking down “deados” (think the zombie equivalent of ghosts) throughout several encounters on each stage. Sound familiar? Well, that is because this title gets a lot of its inspiration through the likes of Gears of War 2’s “Horde Mode”. Its a simple concept that has been proven successful as a bonus add-in for a lot of games, but on its own, there just isn’t enough content at large to be worthy of a purchase.
Allow me to explain that, as even if this were a Horde clone, it would still be a decent time-killer. The main concept of R.I.P.D. is to collect gold from enemies by simply surviving and making arrests. After defeating a few waves, one of the deados will be golden themselves, and you will have the choice of making an arrest or an execution by standing close to the downed for a specific amount of time. That concept works fine, but the gameplay doesn’t lead anywhere. The only type of progression is the leveling system – or “Gold Meter”, which takes around six stages to level up. After all of that work, you are told the battle must continue on – to which you simply repeat the same process again and again until the final boss shows up.
Along the way, you can level up, upgrade, or switch out a small arsenal of weaponry in-between stages by spending the salary awarded upon stage completion, but most of these weapons don’t feel that different from the next other than the grenade launchers, so aside from a few joke items like a banana that cost an absurd amount of in-game currency, you shouldn’t expect for your guns to feel very unique during this journey of monotony. Making matters more troubling is the lack of variety with the enemies, as these gun-toting deados have minor differences from each other, meaning you will see either a standard thug, a door-toting foe, or a bigger, more substantial threat that can kill the player with as little as a touch. A balancing factor of power-ups was implemented here, where you character can summon a turret, regenerate health, or blast all on-screen enemies with one button tap, but these only come available with a certain amount of enemies killed, and must be used wisely due to how long it takes to refill that ability bar.
The stages themselves are well made and feature fauna that is interactive, meaning if you blow up a bunch of crates, they can be used as cover. Sadly, there is no true cover system at hand here, as these environmental obstacles are your only protection from the large amount of bullets you will face. There is no crouch button – only a roll that can be problematic amongst chaos. I can’t count the times I rolled the wrong direction and suffered a kill because of it, and that frustration leads to an overall product that simply feels rushed and lacking of polish.
The shining moment of R.I.P.D. comes in the form of the game’s multiplayer. Two players can partner up to do the same type of wave-based fare, and like with many similar experiences, this title feels more enjoyable with a friend. At the start of a stage, players can place bets as a form a competition, where the one with the most headshots, kills, and so on will be rewarded for over-achieving with a nice cash bonus. Challenges also come up from time to time, and try to get the player to think outside the box when gunning down enemies. These challenges include the likes of not using abilities during an encounter, making a certain number of headshots, or fighting off enemies with a melee attack (that is so close range that it is nearly impossible to execute without taking a hit), and while the idea works, I had many of these challenges glitch out while playing, freezing the objective at the top of the screen while other challenges were literally pasted over the tasks later on. Again, this is simply the execution at fault for this small headache, and did not happen on every stage – but did occur enough to prove rather irritating.
Visuals and Audio
If I had to say anything positive about R.I.P.D. without a “but” being involved, it would be a bit of praise for the visuals. The first time you start the game, you are treated to an awesome comic-book styled cutscene, which shows good things to come in the form of a story. Reynolds and Bridges also look fantastic as well, and even enemies’ models appear to be out of a much better product with a good amount of color and detail applied. Its when you start playing the game that you realize that nothing is as it seems, as it is almost impossible to tell if you are even damaging an deado due to no proper hit detection, and the animations prove to be stiff and lifeless for a good portion of the in-game experience. Sure, it looks nice in the menus and at the start, but after a few minutes of hammering 15 headshots into one foe with very little to show for it, it becomes obvious that the production budget for R.I.P.D. was used for less important portions of the game.
The music in the game is generic and grinding. There is no other way to describe it. This is a game you can play for 20 minutes during each stage, and the same looping track that serves as no atmosphere whatsoever is made present, making the experience less exciting and borderline “lifeless” (no pun intended). There is a very small collection of dialogue pieces that reek of cheese as well, but this is based off a Ryan Reynolds flick, so that does not effect my opinion whatsoever as I kind of expect that with any film from the actor. I can even say that some of the lines have a tad of charm that foreshadow a product that might have had more, but was rushed out before more could be added in.
Overall
R.I.P.D. The Game is a title that doesn’t take any risks and leads the player in circles, with little incentive for progression other than frustrating moments of gameplay and weapon upgrades that cost an arm and a leg. As I mentioned, you could get some life out of this title if you have a friend to suffer with you, but that can only go so far, so other than the decent visuals and solid level design, there isn’t a lot else to see in this “in the middle” licensed romp. Wave based shooters are really starting to take off as a genre and the simplicity of the concept would indeed make for a perfect licensed title. However, R.I.P.D. The Game is not a good example of what can be done with the genre, but more of a repeat of why gamers are so distrusting with anything based upon a bigger namesake. Sure, there is entertainment to be found here, but with much richer experiences on the market, R.I.P.D. The Game is simply a title that misses its mark and does little to stand on its own two feet.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
For the first time ever in the history of the Pokémon World Championships, Australia was host to it’s own Nationals where the top two from each division were flown to Vancouver to compete in the World Championships against winners from other countries such as the United States, France and Spain. While many competitors at the Nationals were from Melbourne, some had won their way over to the sold out PAX Aus event by competing in various battle tournaments scattered across Australia and finishing in the top two of their age division.
The Nationals took place at the Nintendo booth at this year’s PAX Aus, with three seperate age divisions and over 200 players battling it out against each other in either Pokémon Black 2 or Pokémon White 2. The event was all official, with all competitors required to complete a hack check to ensure all entered Pokémon were obtained legally.
The Masters division that took place on Saturday contained anyone born prior to 1997 and was host to over 180 competitors, proving Pokémon isn’t just a kids game. The tournament was a simple knockout format until the final two rounds were reached where the winner from a best of three battle continued on. Starting at 12 and ending many hours later, challenges competed in over 100 battles until a winner was finally crowned. While yours truly only made it to the second round (damn Tyranitars…), others faired better. Placings for the Master Division were:
1st – Ben Kilby 2nd – Hugh Ronzani 3rd – Jordan Bradley 4th – Peter Seo
The Seniors and Juniors division both took place on the Sunday. The Junior division is for any competitors born on or after 2002, but don’t let their young age fool you, these kids really know their stuff and would of given some of the older competitors a run for their money. There were only 10 competitors for the Junior tournament so a Round Robin format was conducted with the top 4 battling off in best of three battles until a winner was found. The results for the Junior competition were:
1st – Nick 2nd – AJ 3rd – Peter 4th – Blake
Finally the Senior division was for anyone who didn’t fall into the other age groups. 32 competitors entered the age group and all battles were conducted as best of three. The standings for the Senior competition were as follows:
1st – Michael Z 2nd – Brent 3rd – Matt 4th – Larry
The tournament was very fun to compete in and observe and I think all Pokémon fans (myself included) hope the Video Game Championships will be making a return next year. Let’s hope some of our Australian competitors can take out the World title in Vancouver in August. Stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all your Pokémon news, including the latest info on Pokémon X & Y which will be releasing in only a few short months!
