Its a bird… its a Plane… its… another Man of Steel trailer. For those playing at home now this is the fourth official trailer for the film, which is only a week away. However, I am happy to announce that this isn’t just any ordinary trailer or TV Spot. To promote the Man of Steel, Warner Bros. have teamed up with Nokia for a global co-marketing partnership. Part of this deal is that Nokia gets their own exclusive trailer for the film, and it is AWESOME.
Nokia doesn’t just phone it in with their trailer (terrible pun I know. Sorry). Most of the footage shown in the 2 minute trailer is brand new stuff, and it really does the job of getting fans excited for the movie. Heavily emphasizing the action of the film, we see Krypton at war, Earth in peril, and Superman going to to toe with the tyrannical General Zod (and some absolutely sick looking heat vision blasts!).
Be sure to check out the exclusive Nokia Man of Steel trailer below. I think it is pretty safe to say that this co-marketing partnership is a match made in heaven, but a serious opportunity would be missed if the two didn’t somehow tie in Superman to the Indestructible Nokia 3310 internet meme. To check out some more Man of Steel footage, head over to the official Facebook Page. For all the Man of Steel news as it becomes available, be sure to stay tuned to Capsule Computers.
EA Mobile is kicking off this week’s announcements with the recent update to The Sims FreePlay. The new update is entitled Climate Control and gives Sims the chance to explore the very best and worst mother nature can throw at them. Snow, rain, and lighting can be triggered with the brand new Weather Machine. To celebrate the fluffy white stuff, winter activities like snowball fights and snowboarding has been added through the new Snow Park. Additionally, the game has added the ice skating hobby, new weather appropriate clothing, and housing accessories. The Sims FreePlay is available for free on iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon App Store.
EA is taking their popular Superhero City franchise to the mobile platform. Called Supreme Heroes, the trading card game allows players to create and arm their own super hero. The game features an extensive single player campaign, online clans called leagues, and over a thousand unique costume pieces. Supreme Heroes is available for free on iTunes and Google Play.
Finally, EA Mobile is celebrating a solid launch for their new title Tetris Blitz. The game is the most downloaded app on iTunes in sixty countries, launched to number one on the US charts in less than 24 hours, and has clocked in over 43 million played games in the first week. EA Mobile has released a detailed infographic with facts about their bite sized take on the classic puzzle game and a series of photos featuring some of TV’s biggest stars checking out the game at the Emmy Studio event. Tetris Blitz is available for free on iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon App Store.
Combo Crew Developer:The Game Bakers Publisher:The Game Bakers Platforms:iOS (Reviewed), Android Release Date: May 23, 2013 Price:$1.99 – Available Here
Overview Streets of Rage, Final Fight, Double Dragon. All evoke a distinct sense of nostalgia that could only come from a classic beat ’em up. Typically, the words “beat ’em up” are the furthest thing in our minds from a touch device. So how does Combo Crew, the iOS beat ’em up from The Game Bakers stand? Is it a knockout or does it deserve to get shivved with a broken bottle? Let’s find out.
Story
In a world where everything can be solved with the power of your fist, one man has everything. That man is Mr. Boss. He owns a huge tower with his own name on it, he has plenty of money, but he still lacks. He wants nothing more than to beat the three best fighters in the world. Those three fighters are Gina, a student of hair-jutsu, Dolph, the greatest action hero ever, and Parker, whose name tops the leaderboards of every arcade machine across the country. Dolph, Gina, and Parker will have to work their way to the top of Boss Tower and prove to him once and for all that they’re the best fighters in the world.
Gameplay
When gamers think of beat ’em up games, we tend to wax nostalgic. Whether it was Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, or Final Fight, folks who’ve been around this industry from the 8-bit days immediately know what you’re talking about. Games like these typically consist of walking around, beating up a few street thugs, syndicate lackeys, or crime lords, and using every weapon and environmental hazard available to make that happen.
What Combo Crew lacks in tactile feedback (i.e., a controller with buttons), it more than makes up for with crazy combos and absolutely satisfying brawler action. Players will use swiping on the touch screen to target and attack their prey. A few quick swipes and your tossing a 1-2 combo at some garage band groupie. If they block, swipe and hold it to charge up a strike that will break their defense. When all else is left open, use two fingers to swipe in one of the cardinal directions, unleashing a combo to lay the smackdown to the enemy.
Combo Crew does a fantastic job handing you these tools of destruction and letting you get to work without overwhelming you. There are a few distractions they’ll toss at you, though. You’ll often find yourself in the midst of six or seven enemies. From time to time, an enemy will decide to come in for a strike while you’re preoccupied. This is indicated by an exclamation point (!) over their head. Make sure you stop them or get out of their way! They’ll break your combo meter, and that’s bad news. Building up a high enough combo meter will also allow you to unleash a special attack where you swipe your finger around the screen and your fighter follows the path of your finger, throwing a shot or two at any baddies in said path.
As you play through levels and tear away at guys, you’ll be judged on score. For each successful attack you land, your score multiplier will increment itself by 1, allowing you to rack up big scores quickly. That enemy attacking you I mentioned earlier? It doesn’t matter how high your combo meter, if you fail to stop your assailant the multiplier is reset to 1 and you have to start it all over.
High scores actually have a real consequence as you play through the main game mode, King of the Tower. You’ll earn enough to be awarded bronze, silver, or gold, with the golden ranking often giving you a video game controller as a reward. The game controllers can be cashed in to get a couple of new fighters as well as new combos for each of your fighters. This makes working toward perfection and a high score feel completely viable – not just some other screen decoration to show the players. King of the Tower also offers quite a bit in terms of playtime. There are 35 levels to work through, with a boss encounter for each major location. The change of scenery is welcome and the boss encounters provide something you don’t see the rest of the time.
On top of King of the Tower, there’s a game mode called the Combo Crew Mode. This is basically your endless survival mode. You’ll work your way up the tower with a single life gauge, never getting healing items or a refilled health meter. This is where the game also starts to press you for social media. If you can get a Facebook friend to jump in and help you out, you’ll be healed. Combo Crew mode is a lot of fun and really offers a fair challenge, but the inclusion of the social media is completely unnecessary.
The game also provides every single bit of content at the sole expense of your time and effort. Microtransactions blissfully find themselves absent here. For a beat ’em up of this quality, such a thing would only water down the experience.
Visuals & Audio Combo Crew is a fantastic looking game. It provides a 2-D world with polygonal characters. The cartoonish art style is quite well implemented. The combatants stand out without feeling too garish. It feels like you’re watching an intense fight scene from a Saturday morning cartoon, but each flash and crack carry a great sense of weight.
The audio tracks in the game are nothing particularly spectacular, but they fit the setting and mood wonderfully. The theme music sounds right at home with other notable games of the genre, the narrator does a fantastic job conveying the feel of the setting, and the sound effects accentuate a great package.
Overall
Overall, Combo Crew is a rare gem. Typical beat ’em ups and brawlers feel like they should be exiled from the touch device market, but The Game Bakers have done an excellent job with the brawler recipe, adding a dash of their own flavor that gives the game something special. On top of excellent, addicting gameplay, the game looks fantastic and sounds like it belongs in an arcade cabinet. Though the rare graphical hitch can throw off your timing, it’s not worth keeping this game from claiming a place among the greats. With a few added unlockables, customization options, and well implemented game modes, Combo Crew proves that it deserves to have fans that can look back on it with a smile for years to come.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Sony Online Entertainment’s free to play MMORPGDC Universe Online has been announced for PlayStation 4. The game joins PlanetSide 2 as Sony’s entry to the MMO market on its upcoming console. DC Universe Online allows players to step into the shoes of their very own superhero of villain as they battle for supremacy. The game is currently available for the PlayStation 3 and Windows. “Players are evolving and want a variety of ways to access and play games. Our goal is to deliver epic gaming experiences that players crave while harnessing the awesome power and technology of this incredible new platform,” said John Smedley, President, Sony Online Entertainment.
There is no word on the exact release date of DC Universe Online for PlayStaion 4.
Behold Studios‘ hit mobile game Knights of the Pen & Paper is coming to PC and Mac thanks to a publishing deal with Paradox Interactive. The game is a tongue in cheek RPG heavily influenced by classic pen and paper RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons. No video game and pop culture reference is spared from Behold Studios’ cutting wit. The game is presented in a deliciously retro style, complete with chiptune music and pixel art. The Mac and Windows version includes new features like taverns, an expanded campaign, and a cameo by a certain famous robed wizard from a well known Paradox franchise. For those who need a hint, it starts with the letter “m” and rhymes with “agicka.”
The game was originally released for iOS and Android devices, but is now ready for pre-order on PC and Mac. The regular edition will cost $9.99 and the Digital Deluxe edition will cost $14.99. The game is slated for a June 18th, 2013 release.
However also mentioned in the announcement is that they “have a big surprise to share” so this could mean a brand new game. Perhaps it could be the third game in a series that the picture above is from that many fans have been hoping to hear about? We’ll learn for sure in about half a week when E3 kicks off.
In 1988, a little game was released by the name of TITAN. The game played similarly to Arkanoid, Breakout or any number of block-wrecking games. You controlled a paddle, and you bounced a ball off it to destroy blocks to steadily progress to through the game’s stages. The key difference that separated TITAN from its brethren was that you didn’t just move the panel left or right, instead you moved in four directions, navigating your ‘pod’ around the stage to best position yourself to attack the blocks. The game was great, and even won an “Innovation Award” at the 1989 Consumer Electronics Show. As time went on, and older technology became old and obsolete it was thought that this great game was to be forever lost to generations of gamers… Until today.
Announced earlier this week, TITAN: Escape the Tower is the modern remake of the classic computer game. It is being released under the company’s Joystick Replay brand, which aims to revitalize classics from old and make them new again. New visuals, new control scheme, and 80 levels help bring this long lost classic into the 21st century. While there is a lot of “new” in this iteration of TITAN, the game’s developers were very careful to ensure that all of the key features and practices that made the original so fondly remembered were maintained.
TITAN: Escape the Tower is out now for all iOS devices and for Mac computers. Anhuman have stated that although the game is only initially being launched on Apple platforms, it wont be long until the games are ported over to Android and PC. If you want to purchase TITAN: Escape the Tower for iPhone, then click here, for iPad/iPhone Universal click here, and to go all out and buy it for Mac, then click here.
To celebrate the launch, we are treated to a small trailer detailing some of the updated environments as well as that old TITAN gameplay. You can check out the trailer below, and we will have a full-review of the iOS version of TITAN: Escape the Tower in the coming days, so be sure to stay tuned to Capsule Computers.
Starting next week, fans all over the world will be lining up to see Henry Cavill don the blue and red suit, take to the skies and remind us all why we love Superman. Man of Steel comes out in theaters across the world next week (unless you are in Australia). The movie is already garnering incredible buzz, and has had more trailers and teaser footage put out there than most people can count. Today, Warner Bros and Phosphor Games Studio have given us something else to be excited about – Man of Steel The Game coming to iOS and Android devices alongside the film’s release.
The game is a 3D-brawler, akin to Batman: Arkham City Lockdown or the Infinity Blade series, and has you play as Superman himself against General Zod and his invading Kryptonian forces in exciting and fast-paced ground and air battles. The game boasts console-quality cinematic sequences and will contain two diverse play modes. The game’s story mode will have you battling against the invading forces amidst a variety of well-known backdrops such as Smallville and the Kent Farm in order to save Earth from the tyranny of General Zod. Survival Mode on the other hand has you standing your ground, and battling and endless and increasingly difficult wave of Zod’s forces. Throughout the game you will unlock special skills and abilities that will turn you into a true Man of Steel.
Warner Bros have given us a brief trailer for the game which you can check out below. Man of Steel: The Game will be available on all mobile devices next week to coincide with the movie’s official launch, and if you are like me and aren’t getting the movie next week then it should provide for all your Man of Steel needs in the meantime. For all the Man of Steel game and movie news as it becomes available, be sure to stay tuned to Capsule Computers.
Today NIS America announced that they had acquired yet another anime series and this one will make quite a few anime fans happy. They have announced that they will be YuruYuri over to North America on September 3rd. The anime will be given their premium edition treatment meaning that it will come with a hardcover art book that has character and promotional art, staff interviews and more contained within an oversized chipboard slipcase.
The anime will be released on Blu-ray only and will feature clean openings and endings as well as episode previews. YuruYuri follows four schoolgirls who take over the tea ceremony club room to form an amusement club and was a harmless fun series that was known for its “cute girls doing cute things” aspect. The series debuted back in 2011 and a second season called Yuruyuri♪♪ aired last year. We have contacted NIS America to see if they have any plans for the second season of the anime at this time.
Update: NIS America has responded to our question and they have said that they own the license to the second anime season of YuruYuri as well and are planning on releasing it sometime in 2014.
2K Games has announced that Beejumbled, the latest mobile game from Cat Daddy Games (makers of the Carnival Games titles and It’s My Circus), will be coming to the App Store, Google Play, and Amazon AppStore worldwide on June 13, 2013.
Beejumbled is a word search game that takes place in a charming world of bees. The game will challenge players of all ages to build the best words they can to win. You will also have the option of playing through a single-player campaign, fast-paced word games against friends, or in tournaments with hundreds of other players for ultimate glory.
Key features of Beejumbled include:
Competing in tournaments against one of hundreds of players from around the globe in real-time;
Enjoying a hexagon board with hundreds of word combinations, and more than 80 achievements to unlock;
Picking from an assortment of helpers, including ‘Double Word Score,’ ‘Common Letter Bonus’ and ‘Super Letter’ to provide bonuses and assist in overcoming difficult situations;
Customizing the gaming experience with over 25 different bee characters and backgrounds to unlock and choose from; including “Homer,” the baseball bee (who offers an additional +25 points for any baseball themed words discovered), to “Ro-Bee,” the robot bee (who adds an additional +3 points to any three letter words);
Playing independently in Single Player mode, or against friends with Pass & Play, Asynchronous multiplayer via Game Center & Facebook, and Tournament modes.
For more information be sure to check out the game when it launches June 13!
