It looks like Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag may be a real thing after all. While no one has mentioned anything about it in the world of video game journalism, Ubisoft did hold an event last night showing off some type of title and now the box art for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag has been posted on Ubisoft’s forum. Click the image to the right to see a larger version of the potential box art.
If you are curious about the rumors of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag you can check out what we’ve said about it so far here. Of course, this could be a rather elaborate fake so until Ubisoft makes the official public announcement, take this rumor with a grain of salt.
There are many great manga out there and a few of these series have been running for over a decade. As such, trying to catch up or even begin a long-running manga is not only a daunting task, but it is an expensive one as well. Not only are original volumes sometimes out of print or difficult to find, there are so many to track down.
However Viz Media is looking to ease your burden because today the company announced that they will soon be releasing a One Piece Box Set and a Bakuman Box Set. The first one to be released will be the Bakuman Box Set on October 1st for $159.99. Before you worry about that price tag, you should note that this box set contains all twenty volumes of the manga, the Otter No.11 special comic and a color two-sided poster.
The One Piece set will be released on November 1st and cost $185.99 which is a decent amount more than the Bakuman series. The One Piece set will include the entirety of the East Blue and Baroque Works story arcs which comprise the first twenty three volumes of the manga. Besides that the set will also come with an un-detailed mini comic and a poster.
Sadly the company has not shown off how these box sets will look, but with over half a year until they are released, I’m sure they’ll let fans know what to expect by then.
April 2nd, one of the most prolific fishing franchises of all time will make its way to the Nintendo 3DS. Rising Star Games has decided to cast out a new trailer to see if they can chum the waters a bit for the newest Super Black Bass 3D. The video shows off some some of the fish you can catch, some underwater bass action, realistic climates, equipment upgrading, and more.
Super Black Bass 3D Key Features include:
Catch fish with Super Black Bass 3D’s “Real Rod System” featuring realistic movement controls
Multiple Game Modes
Hundreds of fish to catch across various competitive locations
Changing conditions that affect your fishing: changing seasons, weather conditions, and time of day
Upgradeable fishing gear
Domestic / International rankings – Give yourself a Master of SBB alias and challenge fellow anglers from around the world
Closest experience to real fishing on the Nintendo 3DS
Longest running video game fishing franchise
Be sure to check out “The Legend Returns” trailer below, check out their official website here, and look for Super Black Bass 3D to stalk the waters near you on April 2nd.
Crysis 3 Developer: Crytek Publisher: Electronic Arts Platforms: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (Reviewed) Released: February 21, 2013 Price: $59.99
Overview: Crysis 3 is the final instalment in the popular Crysis series, which originally began on PC but later moved its way on to consoles. Well recognised for being a graphical juggernaut, the series has also come to be known for its fun, intuitive gameplay and unique Nanosuit powers, alongside a somewhat decent story to tie the package together. Does Crytek manage to continue this trend with Crysis 3 or is now finally the time for Crysis to power down? Read on to find out.
Story:
Crysis 3 follows the story of Prophet as he is cast into a world of war, sabotage and subterfuge. Awakened by fan favourite returning character “Psycho” in a CELL research lab, players will find that the world is not as it once was. Set 24 years after the events of Crysis 2, Prophet discovers a now overgrown New York City encased in the “Liberty Dome”, a quarantine measure employed by the very company that were meant to protect the city’s inhabitants. In their time of free reign CELL forces have expanded vastly, nearly completely enveloping the planet in an iron fist of global domination. At the heart of this whole fiasco is the mysterious source of CELL’s power and strength, System X.
Prophet believes that CELL aren’t the main threat mankind should be worried about however, fearing the advance of the most powerful alien, the Alpha Ceph (original name right), and that it’s coming will trigger the true end of the world. With the Nanosuit now syncing more and more with the alien Ceph’s DNA, he begins to lose his own human identity in pursuit of defeating this one enemy. As expected things inevitably get much worse before they get better, and it is not long before you’re deep in not only human CELL but also alien Ceph forces.
Unfortunately for the first half of the game little reason is given to the character to care or really get involved in the plot, often just standing off to the side as others argue or given simple orders and then left to their own devices. Crysis 3 really has a struggle with its own identity within the first half, trying too much to be a combination of the previous two games rolled into one before finally and reluctantly finding its footing on a more solid and much more enjoyable second half.
Characters in the game are solidly performed and realistic, with Psycho himself (despite being in a side-kick role) taking the cake for best acting alongside headstrong rebel leader Claire, who is at first unlikable but eventually comes into her own. Psycho has had his suit ripped from him in a CELL “skinning” procedure and is a little bitter about the experience to say the least, needless to say this provides for some truly touching moments from him as he grows as a character throughout the course of the plot.
In contrast, Prophet is disappointingly monotone and uninteresting for the majority of the game with some poor voice acting and of course, over acting. He is pretty unlikable for most of the game, with not a whole lot pulling him through the story other than the fact that he’s the main character. Luckily enough, like most of the game this is improved immensely by the time the final quarter rolls around, whereupon he actually has a personality and become much more three dimensional.
Visuals:
When developers Crytek stated publically that Crysis 3 would only be about 10% higher quality graphics than its predecessor on consoles, they weren’t joking. One thing they didn’t mention though were the numerous texture pop-ins, items loading into existence metres before you would run into them and lacklustre overall shine to the world you inhabit. While in some areas it does look a little better than Crysis 2 with clever use of lighting and more-on-screen objects now available, Crysis 2 didn’t suffer as much from un-optimized in-game loading, even after an install of the game beforehand.
Where Crysis 3 really dominates the graphical side of things is in its ability to render many, many more objects on-screen at any given time than most console games before it. Areas are vastly more detailed in this instalment and wide open areas are excellent to look at, with many areas being both rife in natural foliage and in artificial impact on the landscape; tying the ruined, overgrown New York City concept nicely together.
Audio:
The sound design of the game is one thing that really is top notch for a shooter. Fans of it’s predecessor Crysis 2, will be happy to know the musical score itself is just as good here as it had been at anytime during the series and blends in well with the altering levels of action and quiet experienced throughout the story. Such musical design gets the player pumped during high-octane action sequences while on the complete opposite side of things makes them feel vulnerable during low violin dominated moments meant for emotional effect.
Weapons themselves sound like they have the appropriate level of kick and deadly force that one should expect from the vast range of human and alien tools of destruction available in Crysis 3. Whether it be the crack of a sniper rifle or the low thwack of an arrow hitting flesh, little falls behind in such awesome and comprehensive levels of sound. Special mention goes to the always cool voice inside the Nanosuit with such memorable lines like “Cloak Engaged” and “Maximum Armour” which you’ll be hearing a lot of in the game in a Soundwave-esque voice (so it’s lucky they sound so good).
Unfortunately friendly marine chatter is a bit of a drag, with one particular section coming to mind where you can hear them admitting a situation is hopeless over the radio. What plays is an incredibly monotonous, clearly bored dialogue of them obviously reading lines which seem to have meant to be screamed and shouted in desperation but come across as a bored TV infomercials actor’s attempts at a soap opera. Not exactly gripping reason to come to the rescue and a definite way to pull the player out of the experience.
Luckily however most main and side characters themselves are well acted and each play their parts well. The most commendable being Psycho, who delivers his lines of action with the same level of enthusiasm as his lines of emotional struggle.
Prophet himself is competently handled by his voice actor throughout the game, although occasionally marred by some over-acting during dialogue, he presents a solid foundation and certainly has the voice for some great monologues at the beginning and end of the game.
Gameplay:
But really, you’re probably not going to be playing Crysis 3 for it’s story, nor even for it’s visuals or excellent audio. You play Crysis for the gameplay.
Any fans of first-person shooters will instantly feel right at home when they dive into the world of Crysis 3. Guns control well, controls are intuitive and tightly designed and enemies put up good fights with flanking, grenades and the genuine wish to not be killed.
You’ll experience many moments of total love and total frustration when playing through Crysis 3, often all in the one firefight. The game is of course designed to be the most fun when you combine all the abilities at your disposal, meaning if you try to go just with assault or just with stealth you are probably going to have a bad time. Even when combing the two, technical issues will get in the way in almost every battle. Try and lob a grenade at an enemy and it might bounce off the hit box of an object that is way wider than the object itself (seriously hugely wider), hide behind indestructible cover and still get spotted or shot, accidentally start hacking something in the middle of a fight and watch in horror as you get mowed down, an exit button being something that just seemed unnecessary for some reason.
Crysis 3 tries to be a fun game but it also tries its hardest to ruin the experience for you.
While I have your attention let me just talk about the stealth. Oh man the horrendous stealth. Frequently advertised as being the game that lets you play how you want, it is really surprising that attempting to actually sneak in the game is hampered by so many issues. Enemies have eyes like hawks and so even if you have stealth mode off literally hundreds of metres from their position they will still see you… somehow. Bushes, cover and general terrain provide little assistance when they should be relied upon the most, instead making a quickly expiring energy metres for Cloak Mode your sole help. How about how a soldier can instantly look up and start shooting you despite previously looking at a wall four storeys down if you expose even a toe of yourself over the edge? And its completely inconsistent. Most times you’ll be seen no matter what unless you have stealth mode on or are hiding behind multiple thick walls, but in other cases, for example when you first enter a level, its clearly scripted that enemies can’t see the two metres above eye level it requires to catch you.
If you kill someone with out others noticing somehow, then the moment they find the corpse they turn around, look exactly at your current location (even if you moved since you killed him) and then start lobbing grenades at you. How is that even realistically possible?
Upgrades are fairly pointless for the most part throughout the game. Now instead of killing Ceph soldiers to collect their Nano technology, you find little boxes scattered throughout levels that give you one upgrade point each. The problem is though that none of the upgrades are worth you scavenging environments to find; with my own play through using a total of two powers the entire game from an available four slots and 16 unique overall improvements. On the hardest difficulty I could see some of the slight stat increases and ability alterations helpful, but for all the difficulty levels up to Hard they seem useless.
Luckily though, after putting aside all that negativity and really getting into the game itself we can find a fun, albeit short ride to be had. My time at finishing the campaign itself clocked in at just under four and a half hours, on the Normal difficulty (including various stops to admire the view and toy with the gameplay). So yes, it is a little on the short side, but luckily features high replay value.
Each level has it’s own theme, from clean laboratory to run-down train yard and each level fits together well in the overall narrative. More open-ended levels allow for some truly enjoyable moments of planning and execution, where you tag enemies and ammo caches with your visor and then come up with the best way to deal with the situation.
Weapons and enemies are all uniquely designed and fun to encounter through the game. Ceph weaponry is now available for Prophet to use and this compliments the already impressive and enjoyable roster of human weaponry. Guns can be altered on the fly to add different attachments, tools and scopes to easily suit the situation around you and Prophet’s Nanosuit (which is a weapon in itself) constantly entertains with the ability to kick harder, jump higher and use powerful abilities (linked to the story) that have never been available before. Human and Ceph soldiers are each fun to fight in their own way and act distinctly from one another, with each side gaining new and improved units for you to fight in the field.
Hacking is a new ability for the player to use that is incredibly useful to have throughout the game. Turrets and mines can be turned against their owners and this can result in some hilarious moments where your enemy won’t realise what’s happened until it is far too late. One issue with this unfortunately was that if you hack a turret that hasn’t yet fired upon anybody, then somehow everybody in the areas knows that it’s now hostile and shut it down within seconds. Which is really a bit confusing.
Other than that, players have a lot to look forward to from the now signature bow to the newly implemented, enjoyable driving sequences; adding up to an overall gaming product that while flawed can still grab a gamers’ attention.
Overall:
Crysis 3 is an interesting game. Although it suffers from a number of story and general gameplay issues (some of which will presumably be patched out) the campaign can still be a fun romp for those that allow themselves to get swept up in the experience. Fans of the series may be a little disappointed in the new direction this instalment takes but those that have never played a Crysis title will definitely enjoy their time with this game. Crysis 3 isn’t a rough diamond nor is it the best we’ve seen in shooters this generation; but it certainly is a fun enough title in it’s own right.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
February comes to a close and with that Microsoft and 343 Industries has released the second Halo 4 Map Pack. While the first Map Pack sought to provide medium-to-large maps for players to engage in mostly team oriented gameplay, the maps in the Majestic Map Pack are designed more for the small-to-medium for both individual and team oriented play. With regards to this along with the maps, two playlists for the map pack have been added to the War Games hopper, one for teams and one for free for all. Again priced at 800 MS Points ($10), or included with the purchase of either the War Games Map Pass or Limited Edition, lets see what experiences these new maps provide.
Skyline:
The view from the screenshot below does nothing to compare to what it actually looks like in game. Playing on Skyline for the first time players should be amazed with the busy skybox just outside the bounds of the map, until they get killed by the enemy team. The smallest of the new maps, Skyline is a fairly circluar symmetrical map that takes place on a in-construction space tether making it the closest players can be to one since the Orbital Elevator collapsed in Halo 3: ODST. Set with overly nighttime hues and tones, the map makes for a more peaceful-looking fighting location and with its smaller size players should always be able to find enemies on the mostly two level structure. This is a great map for close quarter fighting with plenty of explosive fusion coils as added hazards. Bonus points as well for the Patrol Hornet that peeks up from time to time to check on the action.
Monolith:
Although it is a little difficult to tell from just playing on the maps, whether or not Monolith is the biggest of the maps in this pack it does provide the biggest play area. With multiple structures with a upper and lower section, one in each corner and one in the center, this map has plenty of open air and wide views for players to take shots at each other on this Forerunner artifact ironically standing as a monument to Forerunners lost in battle. With a red and blue base at each side and a man cannon at the top and bottom for speedy transit the map has a solid flow both around and over the fighting. Players can move through or over structures, as well as behind different walls throughout the field. With the maps size players wont necessarily find themselves near too many enemies at the start, but for the most part should be able to see them and get them in their sights no problem. Even darker than Skyline, Monolith provides the most somber locations in the map pack for battle, with lighting limited to that from the structures, which makes all the fighting and explosions stand all the more out.
Landfall:
As stated before it is difficult to tell exactly which is in fact the biggest just from playing on the maps, but while Monolith has a more spartan decor with limited objects on the play area, Landfall has everything from trucks to cargo containers strewn about the place. Showing off a Covenant invasion from the war Master Chief had personally ended, the port/loading dock that players fight upon features both indoor and outdoor combat as the garage in the area is wide open for players to take advantage of the tight corridors. Playing with a team or in free for all, players will tend to have to move towards the action with the size of the map and the scattered obstacles, especially in objective based gametypes. The layout however provides plenty of variety to allow for players suited for close quarters, sniping, or mid-range fighting to find what they enjoy.
Achievements:
As with previous Map Packs, Majestic adds more achievements with 250 Gamerscore. While the achievements for Crimson focused more on the gameplay elements that were found on the three maps, Majestic’s achievements focus more on the weapons and abilities players can utilize. Several focus on using Armor Abilities that players may or may not have tried out, such as the Thruster Pack, while others focus on the weapons players can spawn with, receive, or find on the maps. With a total of 10 achievements for this Map Pack, the “difficulty” is more inline with player skill and ability than the achievements for Crimson that needed luck.
All that being said, the achievements are actually fun and for those interested in earning all of them are able to be aided with the right loadout thanks to the Tactical Packages and Support Upgrades. The two playlists likewise make it more enjoyable this time around as players may get better chances when playing with a team than facing 7 opponents. For example, killing 4 enemies with a SAW in one life can be much easier in a team game than solo, as there is a greater probability to live longer, as well as serve to teach players to conserve ammo instead of spraying and praying. Surprisingly, the achievements this time also go to show that the Pulse Grenade, often overlooked by players is actually a formidable tool. With the achievement to get a double kill with a single Pulse Grenade, 343 Industries has pointed out just how useful they actually are, whether quickly draining a players shields or finishing them off after they already have. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Pulse Grenades being used more from now on.
Overall:
The Majestic Map Pack is in many ways a superior Map Pack to it predecessor Crimson. The maps have a bit more style and more versatility, i.e. the difference between working well as both team and free for all than working well with a 4 person team or an 8 person team. Halo 4 has been lacking somewhat in free for all since its release, so it is good to see that these 3 maps cater directly to that; players that were missing free for all action when Halo 4 released can get what they’ve been missing. Plus, with the achievements being based around skill or how loadouts are built , than say who is standing closest to the Mantis when it spawns, players interested in those are sure to have a good time and learn a thing or two about the less used equipment. Those with the War Games Map Pass or Limited Edition can download them right now from the main menu or players looking to buy the Majestic Map Pack for 800 MS Points can find it HERE.
Things are looking pretty well for Mike Bithell, the developer behind last year’s indie hit Thomas Was Alone. Now the indie title is moving past PC and Mac exclusivity onto the PS3 and PS Vita, also with cross buy. Announced on Sony’s own PlayStation Blog, Mike Bithell stated that Thomas Was Alone would be making the journey this Spring.
Even with how amazing the game was with its original release, the PS3 and PS Vita version will be adding even more to it in the form of a creator commentary, exclusive prologue DLC with a new character, and touchscreen support for the Vita. Thomas Was Alone is an amazing game and story that players who missed it on PC/Mac should look forward its console release.
Don’t believe how awesome a simple platformer can be? It was my personal Editor’s Pick for Capsule Computer’s 2012 Game of the Year Awards whose review can be found HERE.
After its first announcement Mars War Logs has only had a few screenshots and a trailer to show off what the planet of Mars will offer Roy Temperance in terms of adversity on his adventure. Players will however have a much better idea how Roy will be overcoming these adversities with the release of the Combat Trailer.
Showing off a few of Roy’s moves and the experience tree players will be having to make choices on. The tree itself is composed of three basic styles from pure Combat, Technomant, and Renegade. Depending on how players build their skills will decide what abilities Roy will able to utilize. In addition to the combat, the trailer also shows off a bit of the options players will be pick from in terms of armor, as Roy has a few different clothing slots for him to use different types of armor.
Players can watch the Combat Trailer embedded below. Mars War Logs will be releasing on XBLA, PSN, and PC in Spring of 2013.
Astro Gaming announced the release of the 2013 versions of the Astro A30 and A40 PC Edition headsets today. The new headsets are the same as the ones included in the Astro A30 and A40 2013 audio systems. They feature the new Quick Disconnect Cabling System that connects directly into the headset instead of the older style that disconnected after one foot of cabling from the headset. They also have been retuned to improve the bass response and reduce distortion at high volumes. New to the PC Edition, The A30s and A40s features a Media Controller Cable provides an in line mic, mute feature, a toggle to switch between the in line mute and the boom headset, a volume control wheel, and a multi use control button.
The Astro A30 and A40 PC Editions have also seen a substantial price drop. The A30 PC Edition has dropped from $129.99 to $99.99 and the Astro A40 PC Edition has dropped from $199.99 to $149.99. Find out more at the official Astro site here.
Sega and Gogoic ehf. announced that their latest game Godsrule: War of Mortals has reached open beta. The game is a social real time strategy game set in a fantasy world shattered by the war between the Old and New Gods. The Old Gods have the support of the humans while the elves, demons, and giants have opted to support the New Gods. Players will need to manage their empire to build an army to fight for their chosen faction.
Godsrule: War of Mortals is available for free on browsers and supports both PC and iPad browsers. Start playing here.
indiePub Entertainment released their first in house developed game to iTunes and Google Play. Pictago uses the player’s own photos from the iOS Photo Roll or Facebook photo gallery to create a hidden object game. Players simply need to use the touch and drag tools included to create hidden object scenes that can be shared via Facebook, Twitter, and email. Whether the player want to create a challenging scene in the forest for the friends or a simple find the colour scene to teach the kids colours, Pictago is only limited by the imagination.
Pictago is available for free on iTunes here. Android users can find Pictago on Google Play here.
It looks like Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag may be a real thing after all. While no one has mentioned anything about it in the world of video game journalism, Ubisoft did hold an event last night showing off some type of title and now the box art for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag has been posted on Ubisoft’s forum. Click the image to the right to see a larger version of the potential box art.
