EA Sports has announced Martin Brodeur, the New Jersey Devils Goaltender, as the winner of a fan voting campaign to select the cover star of the upcoming ice hockey game, NHL 14. Over 22 million respondents voted in a clash between Brodeur and Vezina Trophy winner, Sergei Bobrovsky.
It will be the first time a goalie is featured on the cover of the game series since John Vanbiesbrouck appeared on NHL ’97. NHL 14 will be available on September 12, 2013 in Australia and September 13, 2013 in New Zealand for the PS3 and Xbox 360.
Fans of the point-and-click adventure genre will undoubtedly be familiar with the Runaway series. Developed by Spanish team Pendulo Studios, the original entry – Runaway: A Road Adventure – made its way onto PCs across Spain in 2001, before being localised for Germany, North America, the United Kingdom and the rest of the global market over the following few years. It followed the formula of Broken Sword to its own success. Now, Bulkypix have published an iOS port of the title. Will you want to take this adventure on your touch-screens, or just…runaway? (creative, I know)
Story
Brian Basco is a physics degree owner from Columbia, who was on his way to California to do his doctoral studies at Berkeley’s Applied Physics Department. But, Brian remembered that he forgot to pick up a book he’d ordered from a downtown bookshop in Manhattan and so he took a slight detour to do so before heading back onto the main road towards the West Coast. This decision leads Brian to discover – in his own words – “that your life can be turned upside-down in just one tenth of a second.” As he was driving through, a woman, panicked, ran out into the street and in front of his car, causing a collision between the two.
Out of good conscience, Brian takes the woman to the hospital, where he learns that she – Gina – is being hunted for witnessing the murder of her Father, the guilty party being Mafia men who are after a crucifix in her possession. Why they desire this seemingly ordinary piece of wood is the question that drives Brian’s curiosity. From here, the duo embark on a journey to find its importance, whilst being pursued by the villains. The story takes some interesting turns and can be played through in less than 6 hours (not a speed-run). If you like anything in the vein of its inspirations – the aforementioned Broken Swordand Monkey Islandgames – then its structure and style of story-telling will be familiar, but enjoyable to you.
Gameplay
I’ve mentioned this before, but some would imagine point-and-click mechanics to be easily adapted and translated into the touch interfaces of our iDevices, but that’s not the case. Should it be? Quite possibly, but often times the simplest approach is made; tapping is the equivalent of clicking. Makes sense, right? Yet considerations such as surface size and touch radius aren’t made. Unfortunately, in Runaway: A Road Adventure, there are a few issues with the interface as it relates to this and a couple other aspects of gameplay. Firstly, tapping on objects should be easy enough…except when they’re bunched together and you keep accidentally selecting the wrong object that’s just too damn close to the one you want.
A tap and drag “mouse-over” functionality would have been appreciated here, effectively mimicking a mouse cursor as you scan the foreground/background with your finger. Also, the text that tells you what you are interacting with is sometimes obstructed when dragging an item from your inventory – accessible by tapping on the box icon on the toolbar (with also includes a ‘clue finder’ button) at the bottom of the screen – unless you want to do so from the top of the screen; a much less natural way to play. An option to move that type to the top of the screen would’ve solved this admittedly minor problem.
Otherwise, it’s nice to see the actual puzzles provide a challenge having not played the original release and knowing the solutions beforehand. And yes, I did use a walkthrough for some parts (bring on the noob jokes)…but mostly because some steps in a solution require specific interactions before the action needed would be enabled, even though the relevant items would already be in my possession. If I have a stamp and clay bowl, why can’t I just combine them to make the necessary mortar and pestle without engaging in one more line of conversation that I’ve already done before acquiring the ingredients!? But I digress…
Visuals and Audio
Visually, Runaway: A Road Adventure is very crisp and rich with colour. Now, it’s not one of those games whose graphics quality or aesthetic appeal degrades over time anyway – being that it was drawn and animated in the post-bit art era – but it looks great on the iPhone 5’s retina display nonetheless. Because of the reduced screen size, it can be difficult to spot certain items of importance, however.
The original music and voice-track has been retained and re-used; the only disappointment of which is the fact that the recording quality has not been improved in any fashion. It’s a somewhat hard ask, but hearing the background static whenever a character speaks is not exactly pleasing to the ear. Then again, if you’re not an audiophile or the like, you may not have an issue with this at all.
Overall
Runaway: A Road Adventure on the iOS can be a significantly frustrating affair. On an iPhone or iPod Touch, your ability to select specific, smaller or more hidden objects can be extremely impeded by the smaller screen, especially when many objects are clumped together. The helpful clue finder alleviates some stress in seeing some of the more indistinct items in a scene, but an iPad owner would rarely need it, for at least exploring the scene through tapping is inherently more accurate in their case.
Simply pressing and dragging a finger over the screen to highlight interact-able objects as you hover over them, ala a mouse cursor, and letting go to interact with them has been implemented in point-and-click iOS ports before and would have worked wonders here. All that being said, everything else that made the game a cult hit – from the story, to the charm and puzzles – is intact, and with the bonus of taking the game on the go at a fraction less than the current digital PC version’s price, the game can be deemed worthy for those who have not yet experienced Brian and Gina’ s first journey.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
The annual Call of Duty train isn’t stopping this year, and Activision has unveiled a pre-order bonus incentive to ensure fans don’t miss it. Those who reserve their copy of Call of Duty: Ghosts at participating retailers will receive the bonus map Free Fall, featuring the new “dynamic map events” mechanic where the environment around the players constantly changes.
Free Fall is based on a collapsing skyscraper with intense close quarters combat and changing map geometry. You could be running past a set of windows and find yourself teetering on top of the fragile glass the next minute.
“Dynamic map events change the way players approach the game, and Free Fall does a great job illustrating this new mechanic,” says Mark Rubin, executive producer at Infinity Ward. “As the match progresses, the geometry of the world continues to change and players need to adjust on the fly or else. It’s a really fun new feature that adds layers of strategy and constantly evolving gameplay options for players.”
Check out the single screenshot released for the new map below. Call of Duty: Ghosts will be out this year for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on November 5, with a release on PS4 and Xbox One planned for later this year. If you somehow missed the latest footage from E3 have a look at some gameplay here.
If you have quite a lot of time on your hands and want to listen to one man, the PlayStation 4‘s lead architect Mark Cerny talk about his “Road to the PS4” which he discussed during the Gamelab 2013 presentation in Barcelona, Spain a few days ago.
As I mentioned, you may want to make yourself comfortable because the entire video, which can be seen below, lasts for forty seven minutes. But it is well worth it considering he not only talks about his career in the industry but also information on all four of the Sony consoles that have been released so far.
Deadpool Developer: High Moon Studios Publisher:Activision Platforms:PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 (Reviewed) Release Date:June 25, 2013 Price:$49.99 –Available Here
Overview Superhero games come and go and only occasionally does one come along that is not only memorable, but worthy of multiple sequels. In an age where multiple superheroes are appearing in video games, it was only a matter of time before the Merc with a Mouth was given his own video game, or as the game would like us to think, before he demanded a game was made of him. As such, High Moon Studios has brought Deadpool to the public but does the title have more than just the titular anti-hero himself?
Story The storyline of Deadpool is one that transcends the ages by seeing the anti-hero lose a loved one and seek vengeance against those who took them from him. Just kidding, that would require a script of some kind and Deadpool doesn’t do scripts. In fact the only reason that Deadpool had his game made by High Moon Studios in the first place is with some extreme negotiating involving explosives.
Anyways, Deadpool is a game that very much knows that it is a game and Deadpool talks on the phone with the developers of the game a few times throughout the title, especially whenever they have something to complain about or the visual quality or style of the gameplay suddenly shifts drastically on purpose. Deadpool eventually does find some focus when he goes after Mister Sinister and teams up with members of the X-Men and a familiar face, Cable.
Despite having a rather paper-thin story that has a number of interesting moments, especially related to Death as she appears in the game. Most of these interesting moments have to do with just how outlandish Deadpool is as a character. To list off everything this schizophrenic anti-hero does would take pages as throughout the game he commonly has discussions with the voices in his head, one which is a bit more reasonable while the other is screwier than Deadpool’s normal self.
As one would expect with Deadpool, the character doesn’t even realize that there is a fourth wall of any kind and often converses with the player, such as asking them to please end their pain as Cable goes on an extravagant rant or even hopping along speech bubbles at times. Deadpool is what makes Deadpool the game Deadpool fans have been waiting for, and just for one more Deadpool in a sentence… Deadpool.
As such, most of the game’s entertainment value relies upon the character himself and the amount of comedy that they can throw at the player. Deadpool takes the shotgun approach to humor by throwing practically everything they can at the player and hoping that they will be struck with laughter more often than not. A lot of the jokes are low-brow or perverse but that isn’t an issue as that is fitting with Deadpool’s character and it is played in a manner befitting the situation and is more often than not, genuinely hilarious.
Visuals Character models in Deadpool are decent looking on consoles and anyone familiar with the comics will instantly be able to recognize most of the unfamiliar heroes and villains that they come across as they each feature a signature look. Deadpool’s clothing can be ripped after taking lots of damage and he even shows actual wounds on his body, though these are rather poorly handled and usually are only noticeable if you’ve been killed and see it on the restart menu.
Outside of the named characters, the game takes a significant hit in the graphics department as players will be fighting the same looking enemies time and time again, and while it is explained that they are “clones” it is still weak. It also doesn’t help that despite Deadpool’s colorful nature, almost every environment you go through is a variation of brown and grey with only the temporary shifts in perspective providing some sort of relief from the monotony of basic level design.
Audio The only way that a lot of the humor that works in Deadpool works so well is thanks to the man voicing the character, Nolan North. Nolan made the character his own with his voicing of the character by delivering every line of dialogue exactly as one would expect Deadpool himself to do so. Without the Merc with a Mouth being voiced by Nolan, many people would probably have wished his mouth was sewn shut.
The rest of the cast is suitably voiced but Nolan easily steals the show considering the fact that the background music used throughout the game is basic even at the best of times, leaving pretty much nothing memorable as far as a soundtrack goes.
Gameplay A great story or great characters can help make a game great, but at the heart of it, gameplay is what gamers are looking for in a game and what they’ll find in Deadpool is about as standard as it gets. Deadpool features basic action game elements with button mash combination attacks, some gunplay and various upgrades to help show some sign of progression.
Combat in Deadpool features the titular character taking on numerous enemies in different rooms with two swords and his handguns, though these can be swapped out for two sai or two sledgehammers and other firearms through upgrading. Enemies are dispatched through simple button combos that always display the exact same attack animations, countering enemies when they show prompts above their head and you can even work shooting into combos as well through something the game calls “Gunkata” attacks.
However the formulaic approach to combat grows old very quickly even when the enemies you fight are numerous, as they are squishy and easily dispatched on harder difficulties with only minor mini-boss fights worth much of a challenge and boss battles that simply drag on. It also helps that Deadpool’s regenerative abilities allow him to fully heal all damage he has received after not taking damage for a set period of time, or with upgrades, after dealing enough damage in a combo attack.
The aforementioned upgrades can be bought with Deadpool points that are received by killing enemies and are multiplied by the amount of combo attacks you managed to string together, with the total only being added to the Deadpool points pool after you don’t get hit or deal damage for a few seconds. Upgrades range from more of the earlier mentioned weapons, various abilities added to previously unlocked weapons or upgrades to Deadpool himself, but the customization is surface level at best, making the game’s replay value zilch, since most of the jokes are only funny the first time, and challenge maps that offer absolutely nothing that the game hasn’t already had the player do a hundred times already.
Overall Deadpool plays it safe as far as gameplay is concerned by doing little than offering standard action gameplay that grows tiresome as players make their way through the seven hours that Deadpool has to offer. Where Deadpool succeeds is with its numerous jokes delivered by Deadpool who is excellently voiced by the Nolan North. As such, Deadpool fans probably couldn’t have asked for anything more than this game has to offer since it keeps the character alive and true to his nature, but does little beyond that to be anything more than average.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Are you looking for something to keep you entertained over the next few months? If so, then Warner Bros. and HBO have got you covered. Starting in July, the duo have a veritable cornucopia of content being released on DVD and Blu Ray. So much stuff is being released that no matter who you are, you would be hard pressed to not find something to keep you busy.
July will be a big month, with two incredible movies for you to pick up and enjoy. July 17th will see the release of The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (starring Steve Carell and Jim Carrey). If you are looking for something that the whole family will enjoy, Jack the Giant Slayer will be climbing beanstalks on July 24th.
Moving into August, we will see the the emotional story of baseball legend Jackie Robinson and his stand against racism and the colour line, with the home release of 42 (starring Harrison Ford) on August 14th. From there, it is time to get down and dirty in the seedy underbelly of 1930s prohibition-era New Jersey with HBO’s Boardwalk Empire Season 3 hitting store shelves on August 21st.
Ok, so there’s no doubt about it – July and August are big, but September will be absolutely massive! So many DVDs and Blu Rays will be hitting the shelves that it is almost impossible to keep track of them all, but here goes:
Comic Book fans can check out Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (One of the most important comic-book stories of the modern era, and one that has reshaped the entire DC Universe) on September 11th. The story will feature two different versions of Batman, but if that isn’t enough cape and cowl for you, then you can also grab Batman: The Brave & The Bold Season 3 Volume 2 on September 18th.
Looking for something to keep your kids entertained? How about a double helping of Scooby Doo on September 18th, with Scooby Doo! Stage Fright, and Scooby Doo! Mystery Inc Season 2 Volume 1. If your kids aren’t into dogs, and they prefer the chaos of a manic cat and mouse, then be sure to grab Tom & Jerry’s Giant Adventure and/or Tom & Jerry Around The World, both hitting shelves alongside Scooby Doo on September 18th.
Thunder! Thunder! Thundercats! Do you remember that battle-cry from your childhood? If so then get excited, as Thundercat is also hitting shelves on the 18th.. Thundercats: Season 1 Volume 1 begins the story of a young Lion-O and his feline companions in a reboot to the old 1980s classic.
So we’ve covered September’s youthful offerings, but now let’s move on to what the adults can sit back and enjoy. September 18th will show the release of two hugely-popular sitcoms, as the foul-mouthed, money making duo of Max and Caroline are back in 2 Broke Girls: The Complete Second Season, while Dr. Sheldon Cooper leads the socially awkward, intellectual antics in The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Sixth Season.
Taking our attention away from comedy, Warner Bros will also release Supernatural: The Complete Eighth Season on September 18th, as well as Fringe: The Complete First Season on the 25th. Rounding off the television releases is JJ Abrams’ Revolution: The Complete First Season on September 25th.
Massive release schedule right? Well we’re not done yet! September 25th will also see the release of two fantastic movies; Red Lights and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There is so much going on over the next three months that it is hard to believe anyone will be thinking “I don’t have anything to watch.” We will be getting out a few reviews for some of the upcoming releases, so for our thoughts, and for all the Warner Bros. and HBO news, be sure to stay tuned to Capsule Computers.
Today it was announced by Square Enix that Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has managed to hit one million registered users for their ongoing set of closed beta tests. This is quite an accomplishment as it shows how eager MMO fans are to see what type of changes have been made to make Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn better than it’s predecessor.
As you may or may not already know, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is already in the third phase of beta testing and new content is being added in for beta testers to try out everytime a new phase begins. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is currently set to officially launch on both the PC and PlayStation 3 on August 27th.
Magic 2014 is is the latest installment in the Duels of the Planeswalkers franchise. It offers players of all experience levels a chance to play Magic at a relatively low cost. Retaining the staples of what makes the card game and its digital brethren so special, and adding new features that were previously unseen in the Planeswalkers franchise makes for a game that should not be passed up by anyone who is into Magic or looking to get started.
Story
Magic has always been filled with great stories. From the novels, to the approach to the way cards are designed; from the “flavour text” at the bottom of many cards and even the matches themselves. Magic is a world of stories. Sadly, in previous iterations of the Planeswalkers series, these stories haven’t been featured. Magic 2014 rectifies that injustice, and gives players a solid storyline to fill in the gaps between matches that comprise the game’s moderately-lengthed campaign.
You play the role of a Planeswalker (as in the card game) who has to help a radical young pyromancer Chandra Nalaar (another Planeswalker) who has been betrayed by someone she trusted. The two of you must travel between the realms to track down this foe and bring him to justice.
The game’s story is well told through fully animated cut-scenes, and Chandra’s voice offering you guidance and important information about where you are and the key features of the realms. The story in the end doesn’t serve as much more than a way to tie together the string of encounters and traditional MTG matches, but it is good to see such a key aspect of the franchise no longer being overlooked.
Gameplay
Duels of the Planeswalkers is a faithful recreation of the ever-loved Magic the Gathering TCG, complete with instants, sorceries, creatures, enchantments, land and Planeswalkers. If you don’t know what any of that means then don’t worry, Duels of the Planeswalkers might still be for you. The game offers a nice little tutorial that allows players of all experience levels to learn the ropes and catch up on any rule changes that might have been implemented since they last played.
Magic 2013 didn’t offer much to shake up the franchise, and there were understandable fears about the Planeswalkers games getting stale. 2014 has knocked away those fears by adding a slew of new content and game modes to please Magic fans everywhere. Not only are there ten more decks you can unlock, use and customise, but the Sliver archetype has finally made its digital debut (for those who don’t know, Slivers all share their abilities with one another – so if you have two or three out on the field, then you already have a destructive force at your command).
Taking away all the extra cards and deck possibilities (which given the nature of the game are expected inclusions), what is probably the most exciting addition is Sealed-Deck Play. Sealed-Deck Magic is a staple of many tournament-circles, and involves each player opening a booster pack, picking out a card, then passing the rest along. The result is that everyone creates a deck right there on the spot out of a random set of cards. In real-life it takes away some of the cost-barriers to Magic and makes the game even and fair. It is also a lot of fun, and forces people to think up new strategies on the fly. It translates well across to Planeswalkers, where you can play a Sealed-Deck Campaign against the AI, or online against other players.
Magic 2014 is plain and simply just Magic. It uses the same rulebook, and the same regulations. It does this fine enough, and would be a perfect recreation of the game if not for a few technical problems. Firstly the game runs very slowly, and you are forced to pause the game in order to perform most actions. It isn’t a huge problem to pause the game to interrupt an opponent’s actions, but the lack of speed at which this is all executed is a real downer on gameplay.
The game’s menu’s are another area where the game struggles – there is a noticeable amount of input lag when navigating the game’s menu’s, often resulting in you selecting options that you didn’t plan on, or accidentally restarting the match where you just wanted to tweak the sound settings. On its own it isn’t enough to detract from the gameplay experience, but when you couple it with the slow and sluggish response times in-game, an annoying pattern begins to rear its ugly head.
The controls however are all quite nice, and the way they are mapped out makes it possible to play entire matches with only one hand. While this doesn’t serve much of a purpose in the grand scheme of things, it does make it possible to eat a piece of fruit and play Magic at the same time.
Visuals
Magic’s card art has always been a standout feature of the game, with the best artists in the business lending their talents to design creatures and give life to the worlds. As art is the soul of Magic the Gathering, it is only fitting that it is transferred across perfectly, and no detail has been lost in the translation. Comparing real cards to their digital counterparts shows that everything has been meticulously recreated.
The downside to the game’s visuals is that outside of the cut-scenes, there isn’t anything new offered in the game. The backdrops of locals and the enemies you face are all taken directly from the cards themselves. It doesn’t detract from the game all that much, but it would be nice to see some new stuff thrown in there to really make this game unique.
Some of the more note-worthy creatures have animations that play when they are first cast. these animations really pop and although they don’t last very long, really do give a sense of these creature’s esteem. When creatures attack or when some particular instants or sorceries are cast, the game will make visual or audio cues depending on what the card is, or what it does (for Example: Overrun makes green tendrils stretch across the battlefield while the sounds of the rumbling earth is played in the background). These are fun, but if you are trying to focus on the game at hand, can go largely unnoticed.
Audio
Although the game has sound effects that add their own unique life to the battlefield, they can sometimes be a little too much. Hearing the same sound every time you play Overrun gets tiresome, especially as the game halts while the sound and animation runs their course. If these were used a little more sparingly they would have a greater impact on the game (such as playing when a certain spell will change the tide of the battle). The soundtrack however is stellar and close to perfection for this type of game. It offers ambient music to the game that serves to pump you up and keep you focused, while remaining unobtrusive.
Overall
Magic 2014 takes the staples of its predecessors and adds enough new content to make for a worthwhile purchase. As a bonus, the game also offers the first-look at many of the cards that will be appearing in this year’s 2014 Core Set. Whether you are a Magic veteran, or just looking to start out, Magic 2014 offers a worthwhile experience for you. Its few nagging technical issues hold it back from being the definitive digital Magic the Gathering experience, but there is still plenty here to like, especially since the whole game is only the price of a booster pack.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Tecmo Koei has been rather fond of re-releasing their games with additional words attached to them to show how this version of the game is better than the past. We’ve already seen a PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 release of Warriors Orochi 3 and a Wii U version called Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper that had some new characters added to the title as well as Wii U specific features.
Well now the company has announced that they are working on Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate which will be heading to the Vita and PS3 in Japan on September 26th. This ultimate version will feature the various additions the Wii U version had such as Duel Mode and more characters as well as two brand new scenarios and Xu Shu and Tamamo-no-Mae as new characters.
It has been announced that Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Business president Don Mattrick will be jumping ship from the choppy waters of Microsoft and swimming over to a ship that has already been sinking at a rapid pace for the last few years.
Don Mattrick will be heading over to Zynga as the company’s CEO and member of the board of directors. He will begin working at this position on July 8th and had this to say about his switch to Zynga:
“I joined Zynga because I believe that Mark’s pioneering vision and mission to connect the world through games is just getting started. As Mark was recruiting me to come here, I was impressed by his creativity, drive and the clarity in which he sees the future of games and entertainment as a core consumer experience.”
Considering the numerous out of touch statements made by Don Mattrick about the Xbox One, such as people without high-quality consistent internet access should only buy the Xbox 360 and that backwards compatibility is “thinking backwards” then perhaps this is a good thing for Microsoft as his involvement with the Xbox One has consistently been a disaster.
