The first ever trailer for Mortal Kombat: Legacy II has arrived over at Machinima, and it’s looking… “OUTSTANDING!” Sorry, is it that obvious I’m a big MK fan?…
Kevin Tancharoen’s resume may not have screamed blood, guts and violence, but he proved his status as a passionate and knowledgeable fan with the great first season, which also debuted exclusively on Machinima in 2011. Now, Season 2 is looking even more promising. The trailer, which you can view below, gives us a first glimpse at most of the previously announced characters who are to participate in the Mortal Kombat tournament, and marks the much anticipated reprisal of Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as the character Shang Tsung after his iconic portrayal of the sorcerer in the 1995 film. He even says “it has begun!” again! Nerdgasm…
The web-series also stars Brian Tee as an extremely unfamiliar and viciously evil take on Liu Kang, Mark Dacascos as the Shaolin monk Kung Lao and Casper Van Dien taking over the role of the enigmatic, charismatic show-boat that is Johnny Cage. Along with some other great talent – a few who are returning and a few fresh faces to the series – Mortal Kombat: Legacy II promises to be bloodier and gorier, with “Fatalities” inspired by the games to be a highlight (the blind swordsman Kenshi performs a particularly gruesome one in the trailer).
This 2nd season will be “koming soon”, but for now I must implore you to watch the trailer below.
Bungie’s next endeavour in the gaming world, their ‘Destiny’, has been officially detailed for the first time in a ViDoc entitled “Pathways Out of Darkness”, which can be viewed at the bottom of this article.
The IP that Bungie is allocating 100% of their team toward for the next 10 years(!!) will be making its way onto the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and “future-generation technology”, interestingly with no PC release in sight. One of the reasons this is particularly interesting is the fact that Destiny seems to be taking many an inspiration from the MMO genre, yet Bungie claim it is not an MMO. In this ViDoc, we can glean that there will be many of the classic MMO match-making and social aspects adapted – an evolution on the robust work Bungie did with Halo. There are even “Raids”, which MMO fans will immediately associate with the mission-type they are undoubtedly familiar with.
Destiny is, first and foremost, a FPS and Bungie admit in the video that they are drawing on their past experience with Halo and playing right into their wheelhouse. There is a “Story Campaign” as we call it, but there are also many other modes for you to drop in and out of, ensuring that there will always be an activity to grab your attention. Other players are encountered on the fly in this dynamic universe too, which must require an extensive networking expertise, but it seems Bungie have applied their decade+ experience with the Halo franchise in order to create something special. The promise of this level of social interactivity/dynamics is reminiscent of Guild Wars 2’s.
Below we have a gallery of new, official screenshots/concept art from Bungie. And again, please check out the ViDoc – “Pathways Out of Darkness” below that for your first really substantial look at the game. Let us know what you think about the game!
.hack//G.U. Trilogy Studio:CyberConnect2 Publisher: Hanabee Format: DVD Release Date: Out Now Price: $29.99 (Buy Here)
Overview
.hack// (Stylised title) is one of my favourite franchises ever. The series is a multimedia phenomenon that spans: Anime series, Manga series, Light Novels, Video Games and etc. The main setting of the .hack// stories are always in a virtual MMORPG called [The World] or one of it’s sequels. This particular movie takes place in the second iteration of the MMORPG, [The World R:2].
What’s interesting about .hack//G.U. Trilogy is that it is a retelling of the storyline from the three sequel video games: .hack//G.U. Rebirth, .hack//G.U. Reminisce and .hack//Redemption. Is it an accurate retelling? Should someone following the franchise opt for this version of events rather than those of the games? Make up your own mind after reading our review below.
Story
.hack//G.U. Trilogy follows the story of Haseo right after the events told in the third Anime series, .hack//ROOTS. In ROOTS, we find that Haseo joins a guild called The Twilight Brigade where he meets a nice female player named Shino. This is relevant to //Trilogy because it sets up the entire movie. So if you’re familiar with the Haseo character, you may find him to be a little more edgier than you’re used to, and you’ll likely know why. For those that don’t, this is covered within the first 5 minutes of the film. This Shino character that he has fallen for gets Player Killed (murdered in game by another player) by a character known as Tri-Edge. This is what sets the film into motion.
I mentioned in the above section that this film is a retelling of the three .hack//G.U. games that take place after the events of .hack//ROOTS. I felt that while the story was somewhat accurate to the events of the games, a lot of the story was cut or altered to fit the hour and a half or so running time that the film ran for. This makes the film seem very disjointed in some places, and even places some assumed knowledge on the viewer in the others.
I really disliked how some of the more important scenes were simply montaged over to make room for some Haseo and Atoli melodrama. Actually, talking about that, in this version of the story, Haseo seems like a much larger jerk than he did in the games. I mean, you can kind of sympathise with him to a degree. His girlfriend got owned in a game and is now in a coma and he is forced to play through this game to seek revenge on the player that did this to her. So he’s going to have this mean streak. However, in the games, he wasn’t so brutally closed off from other players. You saw him grow and bond with others.
In .hack//G.U Trilogy, Haseo is practically this brutal douchebag right up until he reaches this one point where he and his (new) love interest share a dark moment together. It is at this moment where his character literally does a 180 degree turn in personality and he becomes this compassionate do-gooder type that isn’t edgy. This is exemplified later on when his dark and edgy costume is changed up for a white and angel-esque costume. I would have loved to have seen Haseo grow during the movie, rather than have two scenes forcing the viewer to accept that he’s actually a good guy at heart. The games did it, why couldn’t the film version?
Of course, if you’ve played the games then a lot of the film will have already been spoiled for you, even if the events occur sort of differently. However, if you’re still fresh from .hack//ROOTS then you wont see a lot of what’s coming in the form of twists unless you’ve been sitting on top of the franchises Wiki. I have to say that when I first saw this film back in 2008 or 9 (I hadn;t yet played through //G.U. yet), these twists left me going “What?!” so they are pretty legit twists.
The story is definitely something I can recommend this film (even if they have changed Haseo’s personality in the most crucial way) for fans of the Anime series that have yet to pick up the games, or are unable to. The film does its job of ending the //G.U. storyline satisfactorily and is a great substitute for the games. It’s just not the perfect one.
Visuals
The visuals of .hack//G.U. Trilogy are its strongest point. I like how they’ve taken the look of the //G.U. video games and realised them in a much higher resolution. This creates a familiar feeling with the viewers whilst also building a much more visually impressive rendition of the events that are covered within the story.
[The World: R2] is a big game and it has some pretty amazing visuals. The film captures the colours and aesthetic of the game world brilliantly. I quite liked how it turned out. If there was a .hack// V.R. MMORPG ever made, I’d like it to have the same visual flavour as presented in this film.
What is really cool in this film are all the fight scenes. Haseo has a variety of weapon types at his disposal which makes each battle an amazing feast to behold. The only thing I would have loved to have seen fully animated is the PvP arena battles that take place in the games. These would have been the perfect fit for the style of this film. It’s just too bad they were skimmed over in a montage. A wasted opportunity. The only fight scene that I thought was a bit iffy was how Haseo somehow summons all of the weapons in the game in his last battle with Tri-Edge. This was clearly the director fellating his own directorial skills, rather than sticking to the lore of the game.
Audio
I would have loved to have seen an English dub for this game, especially if it had the voice cast from the Anime or the games. However, this isn’t to say that Japanese dub is bad, far from it. I quite enjoyed it, it was well done and if there was anything iffy about the dubbing, my untrained ears couldn’t find it.
However, the .hack// franchise has always been renown for its music. The .hack// Anime series always had a great background score that was always playing an appropriate sounding piece. The games had some amazing background tracks that fit the feel of scenes and levels. But in this film. I felt that the music was under utilised.
What I mean here is that for the majority of the movie, there is actually little to no background audio playing at all. There isn’t even ambient tracking. This was quite an odd directorial choice as this is a franchise that has always had an above par soundtrack. I still listen to the //SIGN and //ROOTS soundtracks. Is there a G.U. one? I wouldn’t know, but if there was, it’d probably only have three songs on it.
Extras
Opening the Extras section of the .hack//G.U. Trilogy DvD is like opening a treasure chest filled with goodies. There are some pretty good things hidden in there. My favourite of the extras though would surely have to be all of the spoof scenes in the Parody Reel. However there are also some other things to be found like: Promotional Videos (3), Special Program for Theatrical Release, Theatrical Trailer and Hanabee Trailers. What was also cool is if you open the DvD case, you’ll find some pretty awesome //G.U. artwork on the underside. Definitely a good release in terms of extras.
Overall
.hack//G.U. Trilogy is a pretty good adaptation of the //G.U. source material. Fans of the series will definitely want to pick this up, as would anyone wanting to know what happens after the events of //ROOTS but can’t pick up the Playstation 2 games. However, if you already have the Playstation 2 games, aren’t a massive fan and are content with how the story played out in the games; you’ll want to give this a miss.
For anyone else, definitely pick this movie up.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Pokemon Movie 15: Kyurem vs The Sword of Justive Studio:OLM Publisher: Beyond Entertainment Format:Cinema Release Date:February 16, 2013
Overview: 15 years ago, the Pokemon anime series first begun airing in English. It wasn’t too long until the first Pokemon film hit cinemas to great success. Here we are now 15 years and 15 films later at Pokemon Movie 15: Kyurem vs The Sword of Justice (In case you didn’t notice the number 15 is important here). There has been lot changes in all that time and it is clear to see the direction that Pokemon has taken as a series since the days when Pikachu was still thundershocking Ash and Team Rocket was blasting off again. So has the series lost its charm or has it endured with the changing tides?
Story:
Pokemon Movie 15: Kyurem vs The Sword of Justice is quite a strange entry into the Pokemon film franchise for a number of reasons. First of all instead of focusing on Ash and his friends, it primarily follows legendary pony Keldeo and his struggle against Kyurem the legendary dragon. Ash and company take more of a backseat roll in this film, simply tagging along for the proceedings for the most part not playing to great a role in the story.
On top of that, this film features more talking Pokemon than any to date, which is odd given that Pokemon traditionally don’t speak. This film features Keldeo, the three legendary Swords of Justice and Kyurem all speaking perfect English for reasons that are never explained. Long time Pokemon fans may find problems with that but for the children it is aimed at they are sure to find the idea of more talking Pokemon exciting.
The film tells the tale of the Pokemon Keldeo and his desire to become one of the legendary Swords of Justice, in order to achieve this one must be able to defeat the legendary dragon Kyurem. Keldeo decides against the wishes of the other Swords of Justice and challenges Kyurem to a battle despite being clearly not ready to do so. He suffers immense defeat which results in the freezing of his comrades and he runs away in fear. This sets into motion the vents of the rest of the film, which largely just consist of Kyurem constantly attacking an chasing Keldeo as vengeance for fleeing from battle. The end result is about an hour and 10 minutes of Kyurem raging after Keldeo. It isn’t exactly the most compelling story and there certainly is not a lot of emotional resonance with these characters and their plight.
While the plot is relatively lacking in substance, there is a fair amount of engaging sequences that hold things together, the chase through the city at night was one of the best scenes we have seen in Pokemon to date, it was exciting and well detailed. In fact if there is anything that this film has in abundance it is action, there is a lot of great set-pieces that are actually very memorable such as Kyurem’s abandon mine-shaft home and the battle arena he creates out of ice.
Ultimately despite its oddities, Pokemon Movie 15: Kyurem vs The Sword of Justice is a very enjoyable film for all ages. It isn’t lacking in action and it makes up for its somewhat weak story with its constantly accelerating pace and air of excitement that you can’t help but be swept up in.
Visuals and Audio:
What really sets Pokemon Movie 15: Kyurem vs The Sword of Justice is its stunning visual set-pieces. Not only does this film feature creative settings for Ash and friends to explore but it features some of the most unforgettable sights in Pokemon history. The city night chase scene in particular is an absolute stand-out. In fact the city night scenes in general are utterly gorgeous, perhaps the best aesthetics the series has seen to date. The arena that Kyurem and Keldeo battle in is likewise an astonishing visual creation. The animation and art on show in this film are simply gorgeous. The only dark spot on the visuals is the awkward looking CGI, that seems very unnatural alongside the beautiful standard art.
In terms of the soundtrack, this wasn’t exactly the franchises most impressive outing. There were times when the background tracks were noticeably misplaced and mistimed, creating some strange tone that did not at all fit with the mood of the scene. The opening and ending theme song while not necessarily being bad, are easily forgotten due to lack of a catchy hook and nonsense lyrics that have little bearing on the film. It was certainly not the most impressive soundtrack that could have been featured in this film.
Overall:
Sometimes we build things up in our heads so much that the reality can never live up to it. For long-time fans of Pokemon who look back on the early days with a nostalgic smile, seeing this film won’t do anything to recapture the feeling they once felt, but for the new generation of Pokemon fans that are just being introduced to the wonderful world of Pokemon, this is an admirable effort. It may not be brilliant, but it is a lot of fun.
At just over an hour in length, the film could be longer and its lack of the Pikachu short film that has become a staple of the series, is disappointing. If you can overlook any preconceptions you may have and just take this film for what it is, an enjoyable children’s film, you may just find yourself swept up in the fun of Pokemon Movie 15: Kyurem vs The Sword of Justice. Sure it isn’t that same Pokemon that it was 15 years ago, but in all that time a lot of things have changed; Pokemon’s audience, companies working on the series and even the world as a whole. Change is scary but more often than not it is necessary. Pokemon couldn’t stay the same, it needed to evolve, Pokemon Movie 15 is the result of that. While so much has changed one thing hasn’t – Pokemon still has heart.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
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.