The fast-paced demo will be available on the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network on May 8 and will let players jump online with up to four players or via split-screen.
In the upcoming demo, players will assume the roles of special agents Dalton Brooks, Izzy Sinclair, Jacob Kimble, and Naya Deveraux as they set out to protect mankind from a deadly alien energy source known as the Fuse. Raven, a rogue paramilitary organization, has taken it and the consequences could be devastating. Characters will have their own unique “Xenotech” weapons and special skills that grant a unique play experience for each.
Fuse will mark Insomniac Games’ (makers of the acclaimed Ratchet & Clank, Spyro, and Resistanceseries) first multiplatform release when it drops on store shelves on May 28 in North America, May 30 in Australia and Europe, and May 31 in New Zealand.
Welcome back for this week’s iOS Game Suggestions. If you missed last week’s, or are new to the suggestions, click on the link below and check out what cool games you should be picking up for your iOS device along with the introduction on how the suggestions work. (suggestions 1 has how it all works)
A great week on iTunes! As always, it started slow and but ended with a bang! There are many must-buy games this week in all departments, FREE, 99c and over 99c. This week I’ve suggested a total of 20 great quality titles. Make sure you check them all especially… CandyMeleon, Steve Jackson’s Sorcery!, Star Command, Oh My Heroes! Haunted Hallow, LEGO Star Wars The Yoda Chronicles just to name a few.
Break down below :
10 – FREE Games
4 – $0.99c Games
6 – Over $0.99c Games
As always for this week’s suggestions are all new titles that you should take a look at and consider spending your hard earned iTunes cash / time on. Well the Free games just below certainly should all be given a shot as they won’t cost you anything!
For The Cheapskates – FREE GAMES
MASTERABBOTT’S FREE GAME PICK OF THE WEEK!
CandyMeleon – Price : FREE – Publisher – BulkyPix (Introducing a new specie of Chameleon: The CandyMeleon! Attracted by treats and sweets, the CandyMeleon can devour an unbelievable amount of candies and never gets sick of it! This malicious creature engaged in sabotage toward the nearby candy factory. In the explosion: thousands of candies have been blown away in the sky! And what’s best than a CandyMeleon extensible tongue to gulp them all down before they reach the ground?) on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Dark Avenger – Price : FREE – Publisher –Gamevil (Evil has awoken from its slumber. Our heroes must rise and send the forces of darkness back to the depths of hell. Choose from three heroic classes: Templar, Archer, or Mage. Equipped with enhanced, intuitive controls, you will experience the game like never before! Explore hellish dungeons and collect powerful, legendary treasures in your route to ridding the world of evil. Participate in the Tower of Eternity and solidify your rank as the mightiest. Featuring real-time PvP, you can battle friends and foes around the globe!) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
LEGO Star Wars The Yoda Chronicles – Price : FREE – Publisher –The LEGO Group (For hundreds of years Yoda™ has trained the Jedi Knights™ of the future, but never for something like this. The Dark Side is preparing a weapon more powerful than any Jedi™ has ever faced before. Play now to take control of the galaxy! Build, create and control your favorite characters and vehicles to smash your enemy, solve puzzles and complete challenges within the LEGO® Star Wars™ universe.) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Haunted Hallow – Price : FREE – Publisher –2K Games (Build a fearsome band of monsters and compete for ultimate control of an unsuspecting village! From Firaxis, the studio that brought you Sid Meier’s Civilization and XCOM: Enemy Unknown comes, Haunted Hollow, a competitive, spooky strategy game where you build and rule a mysterious mansion to spawn freaky monsters. Unleash these powerful minions and send them into town to go head-to-head with your rivals to capture townhouses, battle enemies, avoid angry mobs and seize control! Challenge your friends through Game Center and Pass & Play, or play single player in the Haunted Hollow that has everyone quivering. We dare you.) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Tiny Monsters – Price : FREE – Publisher –TinyCo (Can you find the Legendary monster?Hatch, raise, and breed mysterious elemental creatures in Tiny Monsters by TinyCo! Collect TONS of rare and adorable monsters! Feed and care for your monsters until they EVOLVE! Breed RARE hybrid monsters. Enjoy beautiful hi-res artwork and JAW-DROPPING animation. COMPLETE your magical monster collection!) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Red Crow Mysteries Legion – Price : FREE – Publisher –G5 Entertainment (Save mankind from a terrifying fate in this heart-pounding adventure!
Your ability to see other worlds makes you the only person who can win the eternal battle between good and evil. Explore dark and eerie locations to find clues, search for special items and solve tricky puzzles. Pass the ultimate test to prove that you are the only one able to defeat the impending threat and preserve the world as we know it.) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
MinoMonsters – Price : FREE – Publisher – MinoMonsters Inc(Collect your dream team of monsters and take them to battle! Now with ONLINE MULTIPLAYER. Each monster has its own special skills and personality, choose your team wisely. Collect, raise, and battle your way to greatness in this insanely addictive adventure game!) on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Lynx Lunar Racer – Price : FREE – Publisher –Unilever Australia Limited (Pilot your Lynx Space Academy lunar vehicle through nine zones as you boldly go where no man has gone before. Collect Hero coins on each mission to make upgrades and purchase new vehicles in your quest to leave earth a man and return a hero.) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Scrambled. 9 Letters, 1 word – Price : FREE – Publisher – Creative License Digital (Welcome to Scrambled, the game that flexes your mental muscles by unscrambling 9-letter words. Unscramble the word by spinning the letters into the correct order. With over 500 words to unlock and loads of challenges to complete, there are hours of gameplay.) on iPhone & iPad. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Angry Birds Friends – Price : FREE – Publisher – Rovio Entertainment (In this FREE new game, you can use your phone to challenge your Facebook friends for the title of ultimate pig popper and bird flinger! Play in weekly tournaments with your friends and see if you can snag the coveted bronze, silver and gold trophies. Plus, gather daily rewards, send and receive gifts, and brag about your accomplishments! And if you’re playing Angry Birds Friends on Facebook, your tournament progress will automatically be updated, so you can continue playing wherever you are!) on iPhone & iPad. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
For The Bargain Hunters – 99c Games
Heads Up! – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Warner Bros (Heads Up! is the fun and hilarious new game that Ellen DeGeneres plays on her show — and now you can play it with your friends! From naming celebrities, to singing, to silly accents — guess the word on the card on that’s on your head from your friends’ clues before the timer runs out!) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Oh My Heroes! – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Triniti Interactive Limited (Oh My Heroes! is simply fun! Run, jump, hack and slash! Smart teamwork and tactic combinations! Death Match, Team Match and King of the Hill! Long, long ago in a realm far, far away, it was all peace and happy. But one day, the Magic Crystals fall from above, full of magical energies that can even give people the ability of respawn. Endless battles then began for the control of the Magic Crystal. ) runs on iPad & iPhone. BUY NOW
Stick Stunt Biker 2 – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Robert Szeleney (Stick Stunt Biker 2, the sequel to the smash hit Stick Stunt Biker (featured in the game of the year 2011 and 2012 categories) with more than 10 million players is now available! Bike fun and challenging tracks in different beautiful atmospheric locations and unlock various bikes like the chopper, the speed bike or even the hovering future bike. Avoid amazing obstacles while you master the tricky tracks, perform insane stunts and wheelies or relax while riding the chopper through spectacular landscapes.) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Mind Blitz – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Reuben’s Apps (This isn’t your standard matching game. It is a beautifully designed game that has achievements, high scores, penalty cards and power ups. It is your childhood matching game meets action puzzler. Work your way through levels unlocking achievements and gaining power up points to purchase power up cards to assist you in the levels. Game Center support for High Score and Achievements.) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
For The Millionaires – All games over $0.99
MasterAbbott’s over 99c Pick Of The Week!
Steve Jackson’s Sorcery! – Price : $4.99 – Publisher – Inkle (From legendary designer Steve Jackson, co-founder of Lionhead Studios (with Peter Molyneux), and Fighting Fantasy and Games Workshop (with Ian Livingstone); and inkle, the studio behind the award-winning, App Store featured Frankenstein, Sorcery! is an interactive adventure like never before. The app uses inklewriter technology to tell your journey in real-time, shaping the story around your choices. The text itself changes based on how you play and what you do, and in combat, the action is description on the fly based on how you play.) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Star Command – Price : $2.99 – Publisher – Star Command (Brought to you in beautiful HD pixelated glory, Star Command brings to life the challenges and joys of managing a starship. Upgrade your ship, get out into the unknown and watch your crew die grizzly deaths all at your command. Strange and exotic alien civilizations await you at every turn. Manage each of your ships roles, focusing on science skills, tactical combat and ship engineering. Prevent alien invaders from taking over your ship and causing massive amounts of damage with sentry guns. Revive dying crew members with new rooms! And don’t forget that your decisions matter – an enemy made early could come back to haunt you later.) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Eclipse: New Dawn for the Galaxy– Price : $7.49 – Publisher – Big Daddy’s Creations (Alliances are shattering, and hasty diplomatic treaties are made in secrecy. A confrontation of the superpowers seems inevitable – only the outcome of the galactic conflict remains to be seen. Which faction will emerge victorious and rule the galaxy?) runs on iPad. BUY NOW
Zoombies: Animales de la Muerte!– Price : $2.99 – Publisher – High Voltage Software (IT ALL STARTED WITH AN APOCALYPSE! Don Eduardo’s Zoo in Little Mexico is in mucho trouble when his animal residents come down with a serious case of Undeath. The only hope of keeping these cute — but gruesome — Zoombies from overrunning the planeta are Marco and Maria, a pair of rowdy schoolkids who find themselves on the most twisted field trip ever! Zoombies is *bloody* simple to play, but muy challenging to master!) runs iPad & iPhone. BUY NOW
Draw Something 2 – Price : $2.99 – Publisher – Zynga (The smash-hit drawing game loved by over 100 million players is remained with all new ways to draw guess and share with friends. Get the premium version of Draw Something 2 and gain access to exciting new features for premium players only.) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Paper Titans – Price : $2.99 – Publisher – Blitz Games Studios. (The Paper Titans need your help! The Titans have found themselves cast to the three corners of a mysterious paper world and it’s your job to help reunite them! Paper Titans is a charming papercraft-inspired puzzle adventure set across 45 ultra-stylish 3D levels. Fold paper to make new friends, combine abilities to solve puzzles and build vehicles to discover amazing new worlds!) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
There you have it folks these games should keep you busy for quite some time well until next week at least. I’ll be back next week for another dose of iOS goodness, in the meantime if you would also like to suggest your own suggestions, please feel free to share them in the comments section below or in the iOS forum section on the site here.
Focus Home Interactive, Frogwares , and 3 AM Games released the first trailer for the upcoming game Magrunner: Dark Pulse. The trailer introduces the world of Magrunner, the training facility Magrunners will be tested in, and the horrors that follow after a freak earthquake destroys the facility. Players will take on the role of Dax, who has been equipped with new technology that will allow them to add a magnetic field to objects. The game draws heavy inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos.
Magrunner: Dark Puls is a first person puzzle action game. It will be released on the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, and Windows PC.
Alternate Cold War history game Wargame: AirLand Battle released five new screenshots showing off the US units. The M50 Ontos, multiple Humvee variants, the Supercobra, the F-14 Tomcat, multiple F-15 Eagle variants, the F-16 Fighting Falcon, and the F-117 Nighthawk are all represented in the new screenshots. The United States will have access to over 150 units in AirLand Battle, making them a flexible and fearsome force to contend with.
Wargame: AirLand Battle is the sequel to Wargame: European Escalation. The game features over 750 real life units from the Cold War in an alternate history where the Cold War erupted into a very real war. A multiplayer beta began last week. The game is currently in early access Beta and will be released for PC in May 2013.
Rambo: The Video Game will recapture some of the most intense missions from the first three Rambo films. The game will mix first person shooting action with quick time fighting events, epic boss fights with classic Rambo film villains, fixed gun and vehicle scenes. Players will have the option of stealthily picking off enemies one by one with Rambo’s signature bow and knife or going loud with the M60 and explosive tipped arrows.
Rambo: The Video Game will be released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows PCs in 2013.
Razeris expanding beyond e-sport with the announcement of ten new athletes being added to Team Razer’s roster. Anan Anwar, Pavels Petkuns, Shaun Wood, and Jason Paul, Nik Lentz, Daniel Wedemeijer, Geng Jakkarin, Daniel Grant, Guy Tanaka, and Padiwat Jaemjan representing the sports of freerunning, mixed martial arts, BMX, skateboarding, and wakeboarding join the likes of Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses.
“Since the creation of Razer, the term ‘gamer’ has expanded, and we’re proud to continue to play a big role in this movement,” says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director.“We’re developing Team Razer to incorporate a whole variety of persons at every level to complement our already dominant worldwide roster of professionals. We hope others will take note and support gaming outside of its current confines.”
Joymax have made yet another announcement for their exciting Digimon MMORPG, Digimon Masters, this time announcing a brand new server for the game.
The new server is called ‘Beelzemon’ which is of course named after the powerful Digimon of the same name. ‘Beelzemon’ is the third server for Digimon Masters and the first to be opened in a year. The server opens on the 7th of May and will allow new players to jump in on the fun with the new ‘Beelzemon’ server should they choose to.
For more information on the ‘Beelzemon’ server check out Joymax’s official website and the Digimon Master facebook page.
Monaco: What’s Yours is Mine Developer: Pocketwatch Games Publisher: Pocketwatch Games Platform: Windows PC (Reviewed), Xbox 360 Release Date: April 24th, 2013 Price: $14.99 USD Available Here for PC
Overview
Monaco: What’s Yours is Mine follows a band of eight criminals as they attempt to pull off a chain of heists before escaping Monaco for safer lands. The game won top awards at the 2010 Independent Games Festival.
Story
Our band of merry thieves start as a small team breaking out of prison. New characters are slowly introduced to group and their early goal of leaving Monaco is repeatedly postponed for bigger and bigger heists until everything goes to hell. The plotline reads like a classic heist film with all the right archetypes and plot hooks. Short conversations before each heist tells the story of Monaco: What’s Yours is Mine. The writing is short and effective, building a tense movie style heist plot.
Gameplay
Monaco is a top down action stealth game. The game can be played in single player or multiplayer co-op. In single player, the gamer is given four lives to complete the heist before the level ends in failure. In multiplayer, there are no extra lives, but players can revive fallen teammates. Multiplayer can be played locally with multiple controllers or online over Steam or Xbox Live. The simple and effective controls use either the mouse and keyboard or an Xbox 360 controller.
Each of the eight members of the heist team have a special ability based on their backstory. For example, The Locksmith can break locks quickly, The Hacker is able to send worms into the security system through power outlets, and The Lookout can see the location of all guards by standing still. The class system adds an extra layer of strategy to the game, encouraging single players to think of the best order to complete a heist and teams to consider the synergy between classes.
Each level has a variety of coins, stacks of cash, safes, cash registers, and trophies to steal. Blocking the crew’s way are a variety of guards and security systems. The player can arm themselves with a variety of tools that can be found scattered through the level. Ammunition is limited, but can be replemished if enough coins are collected. Players can only see what is in line of sight of all the characters in play, which gives a large advantage to multiplayer teams. Although the four lives does counter the disadvantage of pulling off a heist alone to a certain degree, the game is much easier and more fun with friends.
The gameplay in Monaco is fast and furious. The stealth action is more reminiscent of modern stealth shooters than old school sneaking games. Although it is perfectly possible to wait out every guard and sneak through the levels unseen, the game encourages fast and efficient gameplay by ordering the leaderboard by time. A penalty is given for coins left behind on the map.
The level design is the heart and soul for a game like Monaco. Pocketwatch Games pulls off the level design perfectly. The layout of the maps are realistic and make sense. There are plenty of ways to break into an area and there are few choke points that make escape impossible. Even if the guards are alerted to your presence, a quick thinking player almost always has an option for escape without relying on tools.
There are two campaigns in Monaco, the first being the easier version of events as told by the police and the second being The Locksmith’s exact recollection of events. The game starts out at an easy difficulty level but quickly ratchets up as more security and more difficult goals are added. By the end of the first campaign, I found myself ditching the perfect “Cleaned Out” scores in favour of just getting out alive in single player. The second campaign is fiendishly difficult and completing them perfectly will challenge the best and most organized players. The developers have included some interesting plot twists as a reward for the brave and dedicated souls who manage to complete Monaco’s fiendishly difficult second campaign.
Visuals
Monaco’s visuals are deceptively simple. The game’s design is older NES generation graphics updated for a modern era. The colours are intense and contrast well with the dark colours of the map itself. When the area disappears from character’s line of sight, the game replaces the map with a blueprint of the area. This is done so subtly that I didn’t notice until much later into the game. I thought it was a wonderful touch that help build the feeling of being a criminal.
Audio
Monaco: What’s Yours is Mine is scored with piano music that adjusts itself based on the action. Quiet moments sneaking past guards keeps at a music at a tense low while escaping alerted the guards builds the music into a frenzied flurry. The system works very well and the genre of music is a perfect choice for the Monaco setting. The sound effects in Monaco are equally good, though take a more subtle role compared to the music. Every action has an appropriate high quality sound effect. I appreciated the fact that guards react in French, even though the game itself is in English. It was a nice touch that reflects the setting of Monaco.
Overall
Monaco: What’s Yours is Mine easily proves that it was a deserving winner of the Indie Game Festival in 2010. It is frantic, intense, and just pure fun. The game is one of the most fun co-op games released in years. It is the perfect title to play with friends at a party. Monaco: What’s Yours is Mine is fantastic example of indie gaming at its best.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Tiger & Bunny: Volume 1 Author:SUNRISE Illustrator: Mizuki Sakakibara Publisher:Viz Media Release Date:April 9, 2013 Price: $9.99 – Available Here
Overview: The Tiger & Bunny series originally debuted as an original anime back in 2011 that turned out to be so popular that not only are two movies being made for the franchise, but a manga adaptation was created as well. With Viz already releasing the first half of the anime in English, they have now brought the first volume of the manga to North America as well. The question is however, is the manga as great as the anime it was created from?
Story: In case you happen to be unfamiliar with the series, Tiger & Bunny is set in a world where some humans have begun developing special superpowers. The origin of these mutations is unknown and the people with special abilities such as this are called NEXT. With a number of people developing these abilities, a few of them have turned to crime and what is the best way to take down a super powered criminal? Well with a super powered hero of course.
That is where Hero TV comes in. The city of Sternbild is rife with criminals of all kinds and a number of heroes have been cleared to capture these criminals and turn them into the police and also the ability to enter dangerous situations to save those in danger. The actions of these heroes are broadcasted live to the world and they are ranked via a point system that awards points for capturing criminals, saving civilians and more with a “King of Heroes” title being awarded every season to the hero with the most points.
One of these heroes is Kotetsu Kaburagi, also known as Wild Tiger and although he is a veteran who has been a hero for a long period of time, his desire to act on instinct and put the safety of the people first has placed him second to last in the Hero rankings. To make things even worse, a new hero with the same abilities as Kotestu named Barnaby has entered the scene and he must partner up with him in the first ever hero pair. However with Barnaby set on earning the most points possible and trying to please the fans and become popular, his style of being a hero clashes heavily against Kotetsu’s. Can this odd pairing possibly work well together?
The Tiger & Bunny manga follows the events of the anime almost to a letter. The chapters contained in volume one cover the events of the first two anime episodes which means that it not only introduces the reader to the city of Sternbild and the world, but also a brief intro to each of the heroes. It is worth noting that there are a few extra tidbits added in here and there, but there are also a number of scenes missing, including those that focus on Kotetsu interacting with those around him.
Thankfully the comedic nature of the odd-pairing of Kotetsu and Barnaby still works well in print form and although we are only given a brief introduction to the cast, they are introduced in a decently enough. While unfortunately short on content, it does provide a nice sampling of what may be the most comic book style manga to be released in the West.
Artwork: For the Tiger & Bunny manga the artwork is being illustrated by Mizuki Sakakibara and anyone who has seen the anime will be amazed at the amount of detail that has been put into the artwork in these panels. One thing that especially stands out is the fact that almost every panel has some nice detailed background scenery with only a few blank backgrounds here and there.
As for the characters themselves, it is worth noting that unlike the anime; nearly all of the heroes have been scrubbed of their advertisements. Outside of Kotetsu’s first costume which contains a fake company advertisement, almost none of the logos originally presented in the anime have been included in their manga designs. That being said, the characters both in and out of costume are extensively detailed to match their anime counterparts.
Thankfully, Viz has done an excellent job with their translation work and insertion of text. All of the Japanese sound effects have been completely translated into English with no whited out artwork or panels blocked with black text bubbles and any text that is placed over the artwork is cleanly inserted with no white borders obscuring the text.
Extra Content: As far as extra pieces of content inserted in this volume, there are a number of color pages at the start of the manga, with three color pages featuring Kotetsu and Barnaby and one page featuring the rest of the heroes in their hero outfits.
The manga then closes out with Mizuki Sakakabira’s Image Sketch which has a number of character sketches of Kotetsu and Barnaby some extra character information about them, a small teaser for the next volume and then ads for other Viz releases.
Overall: Tiger & Bunny: Volume 1 kicks things off well by following the anime almost to a letter and presenting readers with gorgeous artwork. Although a few scenes are missing and a few extra details are missing on the character designs, there are a few new scenes added in. Despite this, there isn’t too much progression here in Volume 1 but it does a great job world building and giving readers a taste of the potentially great content to come.
Ubisoft have released a brand new trailer for the upcoming stealth action game Splinter Cell: Blacklist. This trailer in particular focuses on ‘Spies vs Mercenaries’ and the differences between the two of them, which appears to be a major focal point of the game.
Splinter Cell: Blacklist is the seventh installment in the enduring stealth action game series Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell. The game is slated to release for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U and the PC on August 22nd, 2013.
You can check out the awesome ‘Spies vs Mercs’ trailer for the upcoming Splinter Cell: Blacklist below in all of its high-octane action glory below.
Ubisoft have released a brand new trailer for the upcoming stealth action game