In an update called “File Island Discovered Part 1”, Joymax have added the Digimon Gabumon (Black) to their MMORPG set in the Digimon Universe, Digimon Masters Online. Fans of the Anime and Gaming series will remember Gabumon as a Digimon that wears the pelt of its digivolved form, Garurumon. Only for this release of Gabumon, there is a black colouring present.
Even further, players that purchase the Gabumon (Black) will receive a free “Jewel Box” item. This promotion has started and will continue until the 7th of May. There are six different Jewels that have a chance of dropping from the box, with each giving out a certain amount of free bonus EXP. The pearl gives the lowest amount while the Garnet gives out the highest.
The second episode in a series of developmental diaries for The Last of Us, courtesy of PlayStation and Naughty Dog, called “Wasteland Beautiful” is available to watch below this article. These videos offer a glimpse at an extended behind-the-scenes look to be made available on the game disc come its release on June 14th.
We previously shared the first episode in the development series – Hush – which gave insight into the design and creation of the infected. “Wasteland Beautiful”, on the other hand, is all about the environmental design in the game and how the lighting that is being implemented does wonders in creating such realistic-looking surroundings. It’s a fascinating look at one of the most important visual elements in video game development, and more specifically how the team at Naughty Dog are approaching it and what they are able to achieve on the PS3 – including a focus on soft shadows and reflective colouring.
If you’d love the chance to see the design, technology, and ideas from both Naughty Dog and PlayStation that shape The Last of Us with a documentarian’s approach, you should definitely check out these videos as they are released. Watch “Wasteland Beautiful” below, and stay tuned to Capsule Computers as we update you on all future entries in the series.
Gameloftwill be releasing the latest iteration of their dungeon crawling series Dungeon Hunter 4 on April 11th, 2013. Dungeon Hunter 4 will send players on an epic journey to rescue their kingdom of Valenthia from doom at the hands of the demons. The game features four different classes with unique full skill trees, tons of items to loot, a full fledged single player campaign, multiplayer co-op arenas and PVP modes. Gameloft has implemented the arena battles in response to multiple requests from fans.
Dungeon Hunter 4 will be available for free on iTunes for the iPad and the iPhone and Google Play for both Android phones and tablets.
Firefly The Complete Series – Collectors Edition Producer: 20th Century Fox Director: Joss Whedon Platforms: Blu-Ray Release Date: April 10th, 2013 Price: $44.98 (Available Here)
Overview
Let’s be honest, you wouldn’t have even clicked the link if you didn’t know what this was. There’s something unique about those who like Firefly. That is if feeling a slight sense of superiority about peoples’ TV habits is unique. For better or worse, it has become an institution; a signpost for self appointed geeks and nerds to judge whether you’ve got taste or not. It’s the discerning person’s trash which is a much higher honour than it sounds. For good reason too, watching Mal and the gang being space cowboys all over my screen again is awesome.
Story
Humanity in the 26th Century is still suffering from the same injustices that we experience today, albeit on sweet spaceships and terraformed planets. The ghettoised Rim planets lie the furthest from Core Worlds, the planets that were first terraformed after the exodus of Earth. The Core Worlds are now occupied by elites who are governed by the Alliance. Some of these Rim planets fought and lost for their independence in the Unification War which left outer planets as a vast frontier, reminiscent of the American West. Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and his Second in Command Zoe Alleyne Washburne (Gina Torres), bitter about the loss, set about surviving the post-war universe. They purchase a cargo ship, Firefly class, and fill it with their crew.
Firefly is Joss Whedon’s sci-fi love letter to pre-HBO television, back when you had to have your over arching narrative punched up by the weekly romp and spicy dialogue to keep viewers hooked. In a lot of ways it has more in common with Sam Ramii’s Xena than it does with Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica. There’s the zany costumes that give every setting an overblown sense of character, big themes tackled every episode and charm emerging from the interaction of the regular cast. Only Firefly’s cast is huge, so they don’t just milk them for charm to chew up time.
Casting, as frequently noted in the special features, is one of Firefly’s greatest feats. You can feel a comradery befitting a space crew on the run from the law emerging from each interaction. It hurts so much more when you see them act in their own interests against the rest of the crew because of it. While Nathan Fillion gets the most praise for his performance, Adam Baldwin is the cast’s strongest performer. His character, Jayne, is easily worth the price of admission with broadest emotional range of any of the characters. Jayne may seem like a neanderthal but he definitely feels the weight of his choices and can empathise deeply. Kaylee (Jewel Staite) is compassionate and care free, breathing a lot of good will into heavy material. Really I could keep going because each role is so lived in. It feels like Joss typecast each actor perfectly for the part as I certainly couldn’t imagine any other actors in any role.
Deftly executed narrative arcs demonstrate that this show had planned on being on the air for at least 5 seasons. You can tell half way through the series that Book, the ship’s pastor, had a seriously messed up past. Why does a preacher know kung-fu? What made him so pensive? Alas, we’ll never know more than these glimpses as his fate was sealed in the Serenity film. Serenity the film is pretty much 5 seasons of cliff hangers stitched together in two hours, which no only doesn’t do the material justice, it leaves out a lot of material which each of these characters really needed.
On an episode to episode level, Joss has refined the hour long (or 45 minute long) story structure. Drama is balanced with humour, and little of it is light and fluffy. ‘Shindig’ is great episode for this reason. Not a single moment is wasted. Choices like including a sword duel not only develop the world aesthetically, but also help to display how each character tries to define honour, with a direct impact on how they then relate to each other.
Visuals
All the technical elements of creating a television show shine here. Hand held cameras are used extensively to both boost the realism and add action to each shot. Even in the shots that are complete 3D you can see fast zooms with the focus struggling to keep up. Other than cleverly hiding the obviousness of the CGI, the camera effects consistencies maintains the wild aesthetic that permeates the show. A laissesz faire attitude to editing and framing also helps bolster the action adventure element. Considering most of the quality content is on the page when it comes to Joss it was probably the perfect approach.
The lighting is used to ensure that you don’t take anything too seriously. Each scene has its own colour, as does each location. They’re big, bold colours too. It would have been too easy for this show to get lost in a brown on brown palate, thankfully we’re spared that kind of hackneyed effort. Costumes draw on 19th Century tropes, working as hard to articulate the class and social role each character fills as the performances of the actors. Although at times it feels like Joss’ understanding of Chinese would be better described as ‘Oriental.’
Audio
Greg Edmonson’s score utilises all the cultural influences the show leans on to create a rich emotional timbre. The rollicking of pirate shanties is blended with traditional Chinese folk music with a heavy dash of country to give it that frontier feel. The sound track reeks of professionalism. A few of the movements will be stuck in your head for weeks after hearing them. Firefly’s theme song is one that will go down in the history books as one of the most emotive introductions a show can have.
Extras
I’m going to guess that most of you have already seen Firefly, probably more than once. If so then the extras are going to be what you’re really interested. Unfortunately there’s nothing new here but the tin. That being said, there are tonnes of great special features, some of which can revisited more than once. Outside of the regular outtakes and left over bits of film that FOX could smash together in the package there is a lot of fan service here. Each episode has its own commentary track which are amazing. Bringing the cast of the show back together is emotional for everyone at some point in these features. These commentaries only allow for the happy ones thankfully. Each group of actors who get to commentate specific episodes all have a crack at singing the theme which is quite charming.
The Making of Firefly is a particularly well constructed behind the scenes tape. Better than many you’ll find on other DVDs. Essentially it’s just head shots of major crew and cast talking through the significant features of the show cut with clips. Whether it was how they pieced together the aesthetic or why they chose to swear in Chinese, simply hearing their process work out each decision is mesmerising. Who knew someone completely unaffiliated with the production aspect of a show could feel so deeply invested in its outcome – even after it had been cancelled? It feels like cheating winning over an audience like that. I get the feeling crafting that emotion so deftly through the special features is one of the reasons fans still support Firefly, they’re always made to feel as if they made all of this happen.
The Firefly Reunion is a bit self indulgent. Joss, Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk seem to know this but it feels like nobody told Ron Glass and as a result he’s ignored for most of the conversation. Most of the material is just Joss, Nathan and Alan horsing around, which is fun to watch. Still, I could have the same experience if I invited 3 friends around, completely blocked one of them and got the rest to talk about Firefly. If you can’t get enough of the charm the cast had in the other features then you’ll probably enjoy this but really, it’s pretty much just Joss skeeting on your face for an hour.
Serenity, the 10th Character, is great. 50 percent technical with explanations of set design and structuring character development within the space and 50 behind the scenes, this feature is short but insightful. If anything this feature demonstrates how Joss crammed detail into everything. With Serenity being the set piece for so many different sequences it deserved the amount of attention that was obviously poured into it.
Overall
Do we need more Firefly in our lives? Probably, but with nothing new to add to what fans already own, it’s hard to justify the ten out of ten capsules I want to give this. Sure, it’s a classic. You’ll never catch me denying that but this package is clearly aimed at the fans and it’s more than likely that they’ve already seen all this stuff. It’s possible you just want to have it on Blu-Ray and that’s more than enough reason to get this. Plus there’s the tin, it’s a collector’s edition tin at that too.
As for the show itself, I hardly need to tell you that it’s amazing. Simply coming back and watching it again is like coming home. Every performance is sincere, bringing to life our generation’s most iconic characters. The stories are massive and encompass so much without getting lost in the high and mighty self reverence sci-fi is known to indulge in. For fans, give Firefly another go, you know you won’t regret it and for those who aren’t already indoctrinated – give yourself over to this show.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Straight out of Melbourne, Australia, indie studio 3 Sprockets today released Cubemen 2 for download on Steam. Cubemen 2 is the sequel to the award-winning Cubemen, and offers more of the addictive gameplay and unique features that made the first game a cult hit.
Players must use their Cubemen units strategically to defend and attack enemies in a range of game modes, including Capture the Flag, Skirmish, Territory and more. Up to six players can battle in cross-platform, multi-player action with nine specialised unit types, including new units such as path blockers, mines and freeze lightning.
Cubemen 2 also offers a single-player experience with two unique game modes specifically for single-player in addition to the Campaign mode. A built in level editor allows players to create and share their levels with players all around the globe. Levels can be themed in a range of superb skins and are stored locally for easy access even when players are offline.
The games Director Seon Rozenblum shared a few words on the sequel.
“Our focus on the sequel has been to keep the simplicity that fans loved in the original, whilst adding a slate of new game modes and strategy, taking the user experience to a whole new level… we have listened to our players and fans and believe we have created the best Cubemen sequel possible with many new and unique ideas that makes this the most compelling version yet.”
Key Features of Cubemen 2 include:
Customizable unit skins… Play as Cowboys, Knights or even Luchadores!
No static towers. Move your Cubemen around the level and attack or defend at will
Campaign mode where you compete against others for a global ranking
Find new online levels to play with a single click
Real 3D levels with Teleporters, Healing Stations and floating platforms
Online ranking for all game modes
Teams and individual multi-player games against Humans, AI or both!
Brand new Cubemen OST included with all Steam purchases
The game is available for $7.99 for a single license and $9.99 for a twin pack license, however special discounts are available for those who purchase the game during its launch week, with a further deal for those loyal customers who own the original Cubemen game. Cubemen 2 supports Windows, OSX and Linux and you can download the game from Steam now. An iOS and Mac App Store version will be arriving later in Spring 2013.
Check out the launch trailer below and visit the website for more information on Cubemen 2.
Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo Platform: Nintendo 3DS Release Date: March 24, 2013 Price: $39.99 – BUY NOW
Overview
Luigi has been around for nearly as long as Mario, playing second fiddle to his famed brother. Over ten years ago, Luigi got his time to shine in Luigi’s Mansion (I don’t count Mario is Missing, if you’re wondering). The game is to this day considered to be one of the strongest titles that hit the platform, and has garnered a hungry following that have begged for more for years. That day to feast has come, Luigi fans. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon is everything we could have asked for in a sequel, with five mansions to explore, a brand new multiplayer mode, and all of the charms of the original. The question is, can this shunned brother prove himself on a new platform, or does this follow-up prove to be too late to the party?
Story
Professor E. Gadd is at it again. It’s another peaceful day in Evershade Valley, and Gadd is thrilled to have the mysterious Dark Moon obtained – which brings peace to all of the ghosts and makes them friendly. After King Boo comes in and shatters the into six pieces, this odd little Professor summons the help of his old friend with the green hat to make things right.
Compared to the first story, this narrative in my opinion is more charming, as there has definitely been a lot of development of Luigi’s character since the original, and it shows in a greater manner through this sequel. Luigi is clumsy, frightened, and shows a ton of uncertainty as you track down ghosts, and that and the colorful cast of foes come together to make one experience that is made to make you laugh and smile as we see the ultimate anti-hero progress. E. Gadd has much more dialogue this time around as well, and while the tutorials can be a bit much at the beginning, I must say it’s good to see a character that could have been an afterthought or even dropped make such a blossoming return.
Gameplay
Ever since it was announced at E3 in 2011, I have been excited for Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon. I mean, the promotion made the gameplay look like one smooth experience that would rival what we had on the GameCube. That was also a big worry I had as well. Making the transition to a portable platform is a big jump, and due to the 3D rooms of the first title, it was hard not to doubt how solid the controls would be. Thankfully, Dark Moon delivers when it comes to control as the every mechanic is built for the 3DS, taking advantage of the unit entirely to give us what feels like a full console experience in the palm of your hand.
Before we touch on the topic on controls fully, you would have to understand the concept. For those unfamiliar, the main objective of the game is to go on missions throughout various mansions, gather loot, and suck up ghosts with the Poltergust 5000 (Luigi’s handy vacuum). It isn’t all about snagging ghosts however, as rats and bats cause damage upon touch, and there are plenty of traps to avoid as you cautiously proceed into the next room. In minor ways, this game is a survival horror romp – as the aspect of living through the mission is just as important as ghoul collecting. To capture a ghost, the player first has to stun one with the stroboscope (which is a fancy name for flashlight). This same formula was a big part of the original, but now the player must charge their light by holding the B button, and then blind the enemy to begin the whole sucking up sequence. Boos and other supernatural foes put up quite a fight, so the player must hold down the switch of their vacuum and hand on by controlling Luigi with the Circle Pad. Not a ton has changed, but everything works beautifully and these controls are cleverly mapped – ensuring comfort even in the most tense situations.
While I would best classify Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon as an “action-adventure”, the entire game plays like a giant puzzle when it comes to exploration. For instance, early on in the game, E. Gadd gives you a dirty task of cleaning up all of the cobwebs in the first mansion. To do this, you are assisted with a Nintendo DS to communicate with – which gives hints on where your next objective is located at. Every room with webbing has a “!” on the map on the bottom screen, so Luigi must figure out how to get into each room by collecting keys and trapping ghosts, and then search every crevice of the place in order to do discover the web. That example was used to prevent much talk of spoilers, but even while just cleaning up the place, Dark Moon’s mansions are so cleverly designed that it’s hard not to want to turn that next knob and progress forward. Tracking ghosts also uses the same mechanic, but since ghosts can move on the fly- things can quickly get difficult as you try to figure out where they may be hiding. This will leave the player poking and prodding at every piece of their environment, and that scale of interactivity is what makes Dark Moon feel so grand.
At the end of each mansion lies one big boss that holds a piece of the Dark Moon. Boss battles, like a good portion of the main game present an imaginative formula that gives each large foe a sense of individuality and power compared to the little Boos, and ensures the player is on their toes as they trigger switches and fire projectiles out of their Poltergust. The game doesn’t rush to these points either, as the pacing is rather slow, and allows the player the take the time to move at their own speed preference. Not only does this make boss battles feel greater when they do appear, but it also lets the player enjoy the rich worlds in front of them. I know most of you already know that Luigi’s Mansion is incredibly different from any of the Mario platformers, but this element of relaxed pacing sets it apart even further – placing Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon in a league of its own.
You beat the five mansions, obtain the great number of collectibles, upgrades, and entries into the bestiary compendium. What is a ghost hunter to do? Well, Nintendo thought of that and have developed both Online and Local multiplayer by the name of “ScareScraper”. The way this works is that up to four players can go in and participate in one of four objectives – online, locally, or solo, and up to an infinite amount of randomly generated floors to hunt on. I can not put into words how much replay value alone this multiplayer has, as each experience is completely different from the next, and new tools are offered to assist in the interactivity between players. You can use the touchscreen to ping locations of objectives, informing the other colored Luigis that they need to head in that direction. It doesn’t replace a headset, but this idea is the kind of thinking Nintendo have been needing to utilize when it comes to their rather limited online resume as it just feels fresh and unique, and no other game could replicate the fun you and your buds will have as you hunt, play hide and seek with a ghostly mutt, and rack up rewards in the process.
Visuals and Audio
You may be looking at the screenshots within this review and thinking to yourself the game looks good, but not as crisp or smooth as the GameCube version. Well, that is because screenshots are not properly replicated on a screen to show what the true experience actually appears as. Luigi looks fantastic and the detail in his model and equipped gear shine on the 3DS. Environments are even more detailed, adding a ton of old, creaky atmosphere to give the player a sense of unease and wonder as Luigi shivers through each mansion. Ghosts themselves make the most of the subtle 3D, popping as the burst out hiding with their bright colors and charming animations.
Soundtrack wise, Nintendo didn’t really do a lot to change up the music. For an IP as young as Luigi’s Mansion, they really didn’t need to. The main theme of the original game has been remixed a bit to add some nostalgia and keep the mood, while some new yet still familiar sounding beats can be heard as you tip-toe around each room. Ghosts of course sound over-the-top and cartoony, and that is a good thing as Dark Moon isn’t meant to take itself seriously – it just wants to put on a good show. Luigi has no more voice work this time around, but the same elements of charm still apply. Players can still press a button to have Luigi call out to the unknown in his shivery voice and Luigi still enjoys humming to the in-game melodies, which in my opinion is one of the trademark traits of this series.
Overall
This year is deemed the Year of Luigi for good reason. Mario has had his time and we love the red guy to death, but there is nothing like Luigi’s own little experience. This entry into what we hope is a continuing franchise adds a ton of new elements, an enjoyable plot and main game, and throws in a giant punch with it’s revolutionary multiplayer. It’s so good to see that Nintendo still handle their first party fare with such love, and if you are looking for a smile topped off with one of the best experiences you can have on a portable, strap on your Poltergust 5000 and come see why this Dark Moon shines so brightly.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
The Make Something Unreal Live 2013 competition has finally come to an end and it seems like Dead Shark Triplepunch. Haling from the Belkinge Institute of Technology in Sweden, the team was able to finish off their game, Epigenesis, and wow the judges, as well as the industry advisers and visitors, as they claimed the winning votes from them all.
For this the team has won not only some sweet hardware, including NVIDIA GTX graphics cards; Logitech mice, keyboards and gaming headsets; and four Turtle Beach Seven series, but a commercial Unreal Engine 4 license plus a special Unreal Engine 3 license to ensure that their winning Epigenesis will become available to the public.
Although coming in second, team Kairos Games wont be going home empty handed either, in addition to some of the same hardware as Dead Shark Triplepunch, Epic Games gave a commercial Unreal Engine 3 license to them for their game Polymorph as they felt both games were deserving of commercial release.
Make Something Unreal Live 2013 ran over the course of six months during which each team worked on their games with support and advice from mentors in the game industry such as Peter Molyneux. Scientific guidance was also available to the teams from advisers from Wellcome Trust, who picked the theme of this year’s competition of “Mendelian inheritance: genetics and genomics”.
Great job for everyone over those 6 months, and can’t wait to see Epigenesis and Polymorph when they come out to the public.
Monster Robot Studio’s latest entry for the App Store, HEAVY Sword, is set to launch on April 11 worldwide (Link to iTunes Store will be live on the 11th). Inspired by classic platformers, HEAVY Sword is purported to be like Mario with countless pointy objects and power-ups.
The player assumes the role of Pike, a gentleman on his way to rescue Princess Lucinda while barrelling through every obstacle under the sun including goblins, orcs, ogres, robot knights, wizards, lava, landslides and carnivorous plants. To deal with these annoyances the player’s arsenal contains swords, throwing daggers, bombs, bows, the “all-powerful” HEAVY sword and the intriguingly-named “steam powered armor”.
HEAVY Sword will include Game Center Achievements and unlockable extras. Check out the vivid trailer and screenshots below. For more information about the game make sure you check out the official Monster Robot Studios website and check them out on Facebook here.
Remember the olden day zombies that shrugged off all damage except head shots? Tired of the new age fast zombies sprinting straight towards you like candy-crazed children after their next sugar fix? Developers Animantz and Dysotek seemed to on both accounts with their newly announced Deadly Walkers.
Being developed for both PC and Mac, Deadly Walkers brings the undead hoard back to square one and headshots only. Players will find themselves in London as the sole soldier left in the city tasked with finding Patient Zero to get a blood sample, so scientists can develop a cure.
Currently with a TBA release date of sometime this year, the developers have given the gory details on some of the key features:
Single player, with possible multiplayer through Kickstarter or Steam Greenlight
3D graphics with motion capture animation
Soundtrack and voice actors to fit the experience
9 levels, taking place in London
Story, complete with NPCs and both main and side missions
Gameplay, packed full of hordes of zombies
Both melee and guns to take on the undead
Achievements and worldwide leaderboards
Subtitles, translated into 12 languages
While it may be a little early, as the Kickstarter and Steam Greenlight are still being set up, players can still check out what there is so far in the trailer embedded below and the Deadly Walkers website HERE.
The final DLC included with Halo 4‘s War Games Map Pass has just been released. Titled the Castle Map Pack it adds 3 new maps designed on the medium to large end of the map spectrum. Daybreak, Perdition, and Outcast have plenty of play space to make use of the vehicles from the classic Warthog to the new Mantis. Those that have the War Games Map Pass can put in their Halo 4 to download it now, or those without can download it for 800 MS Points.
Missed out on the earlier maps because of not purchasing the War Games Map Pass earlier? Or just interested in just one of the previous packs? It might be easier and cheaper at the end of the week, as Microsoft has announced that there will be a Halo 4 DLC Sale on Friday, April 12th. Interested players will be able to get the War Games Map Pass for just 1600 MS Points (regular 2000 MS Points), or the either of the two previous map packs, Crimson and Majestic, for 600 MS Points each (regular 800 MS Points).
Need more information to help you decide? Players can find Capsule Computers’ own impressions of the Crimson Map Pack HERE, Majestic Map Pack HERE, and finally the Castle Map Packs’ impressions HERE.
