When you’re taking on a combined enemy force of alien Ceph and human CELL forces, you’ll undoubtedly need some heavy armaments to get you through the fight. Welcome then Crysis 3’s epic repertoire of guns, gadgets and explosives, all here to satisfy your destructive needs. There’s the upgraded SCAR Assault Rifle, the signature Predator Bow featuring some sweet electrically charged arrows (one of many arrow types), the devastating Typhoon, burning Incinerator and many, many more. Players will be spoilt for choice in this latest sequel to the Crysis franchise.
Crysis 3 is arriving on the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC; with releases on February 19th for North America, 21st for Australia, 22nd for Europe and finally on March 7th for Japan. Check out the weapons, some awesome combat and a bit more of Prophet’s monologue in the trailer below.
There have been a lot of wars in the history of man but what about wars where battles aren’t fought between men but fought between products? Well the video game war has been raging ever since the first few companies started to compete with one another decades ago. We’ve seen Hyperdimension Neptunia parody the industry and create a three-game running RPG series but what about anime and manga?
Well if you’ve been paying attention to the anime industry as of late, you may have noticed that Crunchyrollfeatures a few episodes of the Aoi Sekai no Chūshin de OVA. What is this series? Well the story revolves around a real-life console war set in a fantasy land. The Segua Kingdom is battling against the Ninterudo Empire for control of the land of Consume and now that Segua is about to lose the war, a boy named Gear with super speed is bringing the Segua forces back into battle.
Now it has been revealed by ANNthat the manga of this anime will be heading overseas as well, but this time in full English and it will be coming to store shelves near you in July. Seven Seas Entertainment has revealed that they will be bringing the series over as World War Blue and the first volume of the nine volume series will be available in July with subsequent volumes coming at a later date.
Update: Today Seven Seas provided an official press release including new information regarding the release schedule for World War Blue. The first volume is still scheduled to be released in July while Volume 2 will be released sometime in August and the third volume coming a couple months later in November.
Jason DeAgenlis, a publisher of Seven Seas Entertainment has compared the series to Hetalia, stating the following: “World War Blue is like Hetalia for gamers. Each character is a satiric embodiment of a popular video game character, locked in a desperate battle that represents an important era in video game history.”
The company also provided their own synopsis of the series which you can read below:
In the continent of Consume, an endless war rages between bitter rivals: the Segua Kingdom vs. the Ninteldo Empire. Upon his dinosaur steed, the stern Emperor Marcus has led the Ninteldo Empire to near-victory. Now, with the majority of Consume under its control, Ninteldo has Segua up against the ropes.
Enter a fleet-footed lad named Gear, who seeks vengeance against Ninteldo for his brother’s death. After joining Segua’s Army, Gear is enlisted in the Special Forces, due to his amazing speed. Yet the inexperienced, hasty youth may not be ready for the realities of war—or he may just become the Segua Empire’s last and greatest hope
phr00t’s one man block based FPS RPG 3079 went on sale at IndieGameStand today. The game is available as a DRM free download to all buyers and a Desura key for all buyers who pay more than $1.00. 10% of the proceeds goes to benefit Child’s Play Charity.
3079 is a randomly generated FPS/RPG that features open world game play. The game supports multiplayer, a full scripted quest line along with procedurally generated quests. Players will progress with a deep skill and level up system. Many players has described 3079 as a Minecraft meets Fallout mashup. The game requires Java to play.
Purchase your copy of 3079 here. Find out more about 3079 at the official site here.
Hitman HD Trilogy Developer: IO Interactive Publisher: Square Enix Platforms:Xbox 360 (reviewed), PlayStation 3 Release Date: January 29, 2013 Price: $39.99 – Available Here
Overview
For over a decade now, Agent 47 has been sneaking around, hiding in plain sight. He is paid to do one thing, and he does it very well. If it’s possible you’ve made someone’s hit list, you should probably keep an eye out for a bald man. The problem is that you probably still won’t see him coming, unless he wants you to…and by then, it’s going to be too late for you to do anything about it anyway. Nothing can stop him. No number of guards, no security checkpoints, no distance or wall. If he wants you, he’s going to get you. So now it comes down to this. The Hitman HD Trilogy has been released to the world, and you’re curious about it. The critical question presents itself – does the Hitman HD Trilogy hit its mark or has it botched the job? Let’s find out.
Story
While the story may be old hat to Hitman veterans, newcomers will find an entire set of stories related to Agent 47. As Hitman 2: Silent Assassin opens, we see Agent 47 as he’s been living in a monastery, keeping a garden and trying to lead a peaceful existence. His mentor, Father Vittorio, is kidnapped. In an effort to get him back, 47 contacts the Agency and agrees to carry out a hit for them in exchange for information leading back to Father Vittorio. This ends up drawing him back in over the course of several missions, kicking this trilogy off.
As Hitman: Contracts begins, 47 is stumbling back into his hotel room after completing a job. Shot and suffering, he collapses to the ground. He begins to have flashbacks of some of his past missions (many of which are remastered versions of Hitman: Codename 47). Between missions, we glimpse his suffering from the gunshot wound as well as his salvation in the form of a surgeon sent from the Agency.
The story in Hitman: Blood Money is told through a series of missions played as former FBI director Jack Cayne and reporter Rick Henderson. It all begins with an attack on the White House, but drives itself to a much more relevant dispute between the Agency and their counterpart, The Franchise.
Gameplay
It’s incredible to see how a game franchise can evolve over the years. Developers create things as best they know how in the beginning, but before long they learn what works and what doesn’t, and their franchises adapt and grow to fit the market and deliver a tighter experience to their fanbase. Well, either that or they stumble along for a little while before ultimately fading into obscurity. The Hitman franchise has certainly proven that it has the chops to stay.
Though it certainly shows its age with this collection, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin has still been very well translated onto modern consoles. Newcomers to the franchise may find it a little frustrating at first, though, as it’s definitely the roughest of the three games in this collection. While it obviously has a few flaws, they’re well worth working through for the intensely satisfying underlying game. The voice acting can be a bit rough at times, animations can feel stiff (like going from standing to crouching), a few bugs still haunt the title (such as guards clipping through doors), and the enemy AI tends to be an all-or-nothing, almost sentient race at times.
Even with those flaws, though, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin still has some moments that will make you want to stand up and shout, or at least wish you’d recorded how flawless your last mission was. Silent Assassin has some fantastic mission and level design, and with that it’s no wonder the series grew to have such a lasting legacy. You’ll also discover so much as you play, that it will make you want to go back and try out that golf club you saw in the bedroom next time.
Released two years after Silent Assassin, Hitman: Contracts shows significant improvement in the design choices the developers made to move the franchise forward. Not only does Contractslook better than Silent Assassin, it improves nearly everything about its predecessor. Inventory management, controls, user interface, enemy intelligence – it has all been improved to better serve the player.
The layout of the controls were improved to provide easier access to your in-game map as well as inventory management. Enemy intelligence was also given a pretty drastic re-working. No longer will you feel cheated by guards who somehow just magically knew that you were a hostile force to be taken out. Contracts does a good job of dropping hints to the player that something may be amiss. Killed a butcher and taken his clothes in order to sneak into that party? The game lets you know that “Butchers don’t carry guns,” giving you the hint to ditch any firearms you have before you get patted down at the door. The map has also become much more functional with the addition of “Points of Interest” – people, costumes, weapons, or other items that will aid 47 in successfully completing his current mission. Though the cut-scenes still look like they were rendered on last-generation hardware, the overall product is a game that is still as deep as it is wide, but much more pleasant than its predecessor to play.
Hitman: Blood Money rounds out the trilogy. Originally released on both last-generation hardware and the Xbox 360, you aren’t likely to see quite as big a leap from Contracts to Blood Money in terms of improvements to the franchise as there were from Hitman 2 to Contracts, there are certainly still a few impactful changes that players will appreciate. One of the first things players may notice is the first-time addition of a “Rookie” difficulty, which affords players as many saves per mission as they want, among other accommodations to make the game easier for the casual or first-time player to pick up. Guards will now often stop to give you a once over, often giving you time to disarm them before they call over their buddies. Breaking down missions by offering the results up as a newspaper article is also a fantastic improvement and a really fun way to see how you stacked up on your latest mission.
Though it’s not technically part of the HD Trilogy, the Hitman Absolution Sniper Challenge that was originally released as a pre-order bonus for Hitman: Absolutionis included as well. This gives players the task of taking out a mark and several of his bodyguards as quickly and efficiently as possible, giving players a score and bragging rights with friends. It’s an excellent addition to the collection, and for players interested in moving on to Absolution, it will get them started with a few extra goodies.
Visuals Silent Assassin is easily the roughest looking game in the trilogy, but even having said that, the game looks fantastic in high definition. The textures and detail are a bit lacking, but we are talking about software that was originally released in 2002. Contracts offers a substantial improvement in both texture and polygon count, so much so that it’s nearly boggling that the original games were only released two years apart.
Contracts looks right at home alongside Blood Money. That said, Blood Money was actually released with the Xbox 360 as one of its platforms. Even still, the game looks crisp and uses colors very well.
Audio
Jesper Kyd really knows what he’s doing when it comes to video game soundtracks. His name is associated with a bevy of game franchises dating back to 1990 including the likes of Assassin’s Creed, Borderlands, and of course, the Hitman franchise. The music for each game does a great job setting mood and conveying emotion. All three are available on iTunes and through other outlets and are well worth looking into.
Overall
Overall, the Hitman HD Trilogy is an excellent purchase and anyone who likes stealth action games would be doing themselves a disservice to pass it by. While Hitman 2: Silent Assassins shows its age, it’s still a great game, and it’s companions in Contracts and Blood Money are both top notch experiences as well. The upgrade to high definition was a move well earned by a highly loved franchise and it has been done well for the collection. The tracks by Jesper Kyd are also perfectly in line with the missions 47 is carrying out. Though it has a few bugs and flaws that have lived through the last decade, that shouldn’t deter anyone from enjoying such a great experience. If you have a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, the $40 for this excellent collection is money well spent.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Today Mages/5pb. chose to release a brand new video showing off the different gameplay features that will be available in their upcoming brawler Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds. Not to be confused with 7sixty’s Phantom Breaker fighting game, this title is a digital download directly from 5pb. themselves.
Interestingly enough, the company will be releasing the game worldwide with English text on February 27th and will cost only 800 MSP once it is released. As you can see in the video below, players will be able to enjoy beautiful sprite animation with interesting combat mechanics and even the ability to level up to level 50.
Today it was revealed that Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance will be given some launch day DLC. Don’t worry too heavily however, because rather than locking story content away behind another paid gate, the company is only releasing Raiden’s Metal Gear Solid 4 armor as a piece of costume DLC that will cost $1.99 or 160MSP depending on the console.
It is worth noting that while there are costumes unlockable in the game itself, this is the first piece of paid costume DLC for the title so far. Anyways, check out the outfit in the trailer below and keep an eye out for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance when it hits store shelves next week on February 19th.
Week 2 of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment’s Injustice Gods Among Us ‘Battle Arena’ is in the books. And here are the winners of this second batch of “Super Fights”, as voted by you, the fans:
First up we had the interesting mash-up of The Flash and Shazam! Barry vs Billy…okay, it sounds really bland when using their vanilla government names. This confrontation was always poised to be held at a blistering pace with both combatants exhibiting superhuman speed. But who edged out the other? Watch the battle video below to see the results.
The Flash vs Shazam!
The second fight of the week was between the maniacal, homicidal evil genius that is fan-favourite, The Joker, and an equally intelligent and crafty Lex Luthor. In this case, the realistic outlook would be that Lex would destroy The Joker in his battle-suit, but popularity itself can be overpowering. Did you, the fans, vote based on popularity, or logic? Check out the battle results below to find out.
The Joker vs Lex Luthor
Remember to visit injustice.dccomics.comto cast your votes on all future battles. For those who are unfamiliar with the competition, its rules or the prizes at stake, go herefor more information.
It looks like Seven Seas is aiming for an entirely new type of romance with their latest batch of licenses. You see, today the company announced that they have acquired the three premiere and very unique acquisitions today. The company has revealed that starting this fall they will be releasing three new manga that focus entirely around monster girls.
The first license is for A Centaur’s Life which focuses around a teenage centaur trying to attend school with her other supernatural friends while the second is called Love in Hell, which sees a normal twenty-something year old guy dying from a fall only to find himself being guided through hell by a gorgeous devil named Koyori. Finishing out this monster girl trifect we have Monster Musume which takes place in a world where three years ago the world discovered that all manners of monsters existed in the world, including harpies, centaurs and lamias. In an effort to try and integrate these new species of people into society, the government has organized a cultural exchange program. However one human teenager named Kurusu Kimihito is about to get more than he ever bargained for when a lamia named Miia and even more girls start to take over his home.
For more specific information about each series, check out Seven Seas’ brief synopsis of each below:
A Centaur’s Life
Story and art by Kei Murayama
Being a teenager is never easy…especially for a centaur! Himeno is a sweet, shy girl, who like many teens her age, struggles with the trials and tribulations of attending high school. The difference is she’s a centaur; but she’s not alone. In fact, all of her classmates are supernatural creatures, sporting either horns, wings, tails, halos, or some other unearthly body appendage. Yet despite their fantastical natures, Himeno and her best friends-the dragon-winged Nozomi, and Kyoko with her spiraled horns-are down-to-earth, fun-loving teenagers who grapple with issues of life and love in a mostly normal daily school setting.
Love in Hell
Story and art by Reiji Suzumaru
Rintaro Senkawa is a regular guy in his mid-20’s who got a little drunk one night and fell to his death. But that is just the beginning of Rintaro’s story, as he finds himself unexpectedly in Hell where he meets his guide, the painfully sexy devil Koyori. Can Rintaro take his situation seriously enough to repent for the sins of his former life, or is he fated to be eternally tempted, teased, and tortured by scantily-clad devils with iron spiked clubs?
Monster Musume
Story and art by OKAYADO
Monsters-they’re real, and they want to date us! Three years ago, the world learned that harpies, centaurs, catgirls, and all manners of fabulous creatures are not merely fiction; they are flesh and blood-not to mention scale, feather, horn, and fang. Thanks to the “Cultural Exchange Between Species Act,” these once-mythical creatures have assimilated into society, or at least, they’re trying.
When a hapless human teenager named Kurusu Kimihito is inducted as a “volunteer” into the government exchange program, his world is turned upside down. A snake-like lamia named Miia comes to live with him, and it is Kurusu’s job to take care of her and make sure she integrates into his everyday life. Unfortunately for Kurusu, Miia is undeniably sexy, and the law against interspecies breeding is very strict. Even worse, when a ravishing centaur girl and a flirtatious harpy move in, what’s a full-blooded teenage human with raging hormones to do?!
Developer Milestone and publisher Namco Bandai are bringing WRC 3 FIA World Rally Championship to North and Latin America although only on PS3 and PS Vita, but still that gives those fans of the WRC outside of Europe a chance to get in on the rally racing action.
Featuring both single-player and multiplayer modes, the game will allow those on the PS3 to race their friends locally in Hot Seat mode with up to 4 players. While those playing online multiplayer will be able to see what their opponents are doing as ghost cars. With racing locations from Sweden to New Zealand, cars will face a gamete of climates and conditions with realistic physics and car behavior.
Players will be able to purchase WRC 3 FIA World Rally Championship for PS3 from retail locations or download, while the PS Vita will be limited to only download when it releases in Spring 2013.
With the upcoming release of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 and Naruto Powerful Shippuden, fans of Naruto can watch all the latest episodes of both Naruto Shippuden and Naruto Spin-Off: Rock Lee and His Ninja Pals exclusively on Crunchyroll.
The Crunchyroll streaming service is available on a number of platforms and is the home of both Naruto anime series. You can watch both Naruto Shippuden and Naruto Spin-Off: Rock Lee and His Ninja Pals on Crunchyroll on Xbox, PlayStation 3, iPhone, iPad, Android, set-top boxes, TV and of course on Crunchyroll.com itself.
Crunchyroll launched their Xbox app last December to great reception. You can find out more about the Xbox application in the video below. No other service boasts the incredible amount of anime content that Crunchyroll does, with over 20,000 episodes and 10,o00 hours of anime available.
The Naruto franchise is popular the world over, whether it is anime, manga or video-games the series has captured the imagination of audiences across the globe.
If you can’t wait for Naruto Shipuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 and Naruto Powerful Shippuden you can watch episodes of Naruto Shippuden now here and episodes of Naruto Spin-Off: Rock Lee and His Ninja Pals here to hold you over until both games launch on the 5th of March.
Be sure to let us know what you think of the Crunchyroll service in the comments section below.
![Aoi Sekai no Chūshin de coming to North America as World War Blue [Updated]](https://www.capsulecomputers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/world-war-blue-characters.png "Aoi Sekai no Chūshin de coming to North America as World War Blue [Updated]")
With the upcoming release of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 and Naruto Powerful Shippuden, fans of Naruto can watch all the latest episodes of both Naruto Shippuden and Naruto Spin-Off: Rock Lee and His Ninja Pals exclusively on