Nintendo have dropped a major bombshell during their Nintendo Direct conference with the announcement of a brand new installment in the popular Mario & Luigi RPG franchise.
The new Mario & Luigi RPG will be coming to the Nintendo 3DS and will be titled Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. The game will focus on Mario venturing into the wild world of Luigi’s dreams. The game is slated to be part of the supposed ‘Year of Luigi’ campaign that Nintendo is running throughout 2013.
What do you think of the announcement of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team for the Nintendo 3DS? Let us know in the comments section below.
Chillingo today launched two brand new games, Rock Runners and Flick Champions: Winter Sports for all iOS Devices and available from the App Store. Rock Runners is a fast paced action platformer in which players swing, sprint and grapple their way over environmental hazards and across extensive levels. Flick Champions: Winter Sports is an arcade style sporting title that allows gamers to play six different mini-games including skating, snowball fights, ice hockey, ski jumping, Slalom and curling.
You can check out both trailers below with the first one being Rock Runners and the second being Flick Champions: Winter Sports, available off the iTunes store here and here respectively for just 99 cents each.
Ace Combat Assault Horizon: ENHANCED EDITION Developers: Project Aces Publisher: Namco Bandai Platform: PC Release Date: Out Now Price: $34.99 (Buy Here)
Overview
The Ace Combat series has been around for a fair few years now, since the Playstation 2 and Xbox era if I recall correctly, and the franchise has generally evolved as the series has progressed. However the games are best known for their adrenaline pumping and high velocity aerial dogfights in fighter jets, which have constantly proven to be fun and rewarding experiences.
When I heard that the title was coming to the PC, particularly this latest in the franchise, I was absolutely pumped to get my hands on it. For the most part this is a fun game, but it has a few flaws that stop it from being completely awesome. What are my complete thoughts, read on below.
Story
The game is set in the modern day and a group of terrorists have created a new kind of bomb known as the Trinity Bomb. You as the player must take to the skies in a counter terrorist operation to take down these Russian terrorists and save the world. Or, you know, ‘Murrica. Because terrorists only care about bombing that place.
What makes the story interesting with Ace Combat Assault Horizon is that the story features American pilots taking on Russian terrorists in a game developed by Japanese developers. This is an incredibly strange combination, but strangely enough, the story works incredibly well. It’s like the producers have worked out how much pro ‘Murrica an audience can take before a game becomes a parody of itself and then avoids it. Hint! It’s very little.
The cast of characters, while being mostly American, are often switched out during certain portions of the story. For instance, when you’re piloting a bomber you’ll be playing as a different pilot in comparison to the helicopters and the jet fighters. Often enough, you’ll be playing as different characters during a mission as well. I can remember a few missions where in one section you’ll be playing as a bomber or a helicopter and then finishing it off in a jet fighter.
The way the characters interact with each other throughout the story gives you a nice sense of camaraderie between the main cast of characters, which helps to build up the tension later on in the story. You can’t help but get into one particularly powerful moment towards the end of the game, it’s like, “what!?”. The story also has a few twists and turns that you can kind of see coming, however, this is an action game and not a game aiming to be high literature, so it can be forgiven.
I quite enjoyed the story of Ace Combat Assault Horizon, which is not something that I was expecting going in. Normally games that seem pro ‘Murrica are complete turn-offs. It was probably because of the Japanese developer without many American ties that made the story more realistic and bearable.
Gameplay
Ace Combat Assault Horizon has some of the most fun dogfighting mechanics that I have experienced in an aerial combat game in ages. The game is just so fun to play as a fighter jet that you can just sit there and go back to play again and again. As a game that features aerial combat, it’s quite important that the aerial combat is actually entertaining. And it is! Which is great.
However, as strong as the jet combat is, the helicopter portions of this game are tedious as crap. Tedious is an understatement to say the most, the helicopter portions of the game are the most frustrating and the most annoying parts in a game that I have played ever in my entire life. It’s so sad to see that a game with such strong fighter combat is marred by a mediocre helicopter mechanic. What makes this quite annoying is that the helicopters are largely inaccurate and the resources you get to work with, while useful, deplete way too quickly. This is especially true later in the game when you have to fight a bunch of helicopters and ground units. I’d be fine with the helicopter portions if they were optional, or were shorter, but they’re not. They’re forced on you. They’re long. And they’re boring.
This is a feature that I quite enjoyed but didn’t quite understand. All vehicles in this game feature regenerative health. This means that you can be on the brink of death with the fire and the flames ejecting from all sides of your vehicle, only to magically repair before your eyes. Now if they took 30 seconds to say it was self-repairing nanobots or something, it’d be fine. But there is no mention of this at all. And I absolutely loved it. Especially in the helicopter portions. Because, really, who wants to sink an hour into a helicopter mission only to have to do it again.
I have to re-emphasise that this is an action game and that there are portions of the game where you get to fly a plane. These are most of the portions of the game. These are the fun portions. Do not let the sound of a couple of missions deter you from the rest of the game which is incredibly fun to play. Just know what to expect.
Visuals
Visually speaking, for a PC game, it is quite dated in visuals. However, when you’re flying around at 2500KMp/h, you really don’t give too much of a damn about how dated it looks. The fun factor just takes over and everything is about the flight and gunning down MiGs.
What was cool about this ENHANCED EDITION of the game is that it comes with a bunch of DLC skins that were available on console with the game from the get go. This means that you get some awesome plane skins of awesomeness. Now, as an Otaku-type, upon seeing these skins based on the idolM@ster series of games I couldn’t resist applying these to every plane that they could be used on. And taking screenshots. Of all of them. I have to admit that flying around in a jet adorned with cute anime girls is quite appealing to me. And to top it off, made every dogfight that much more visually chaotic.
Audio
Ace Combat Assault Horizon has a pretty rockin’ soundtrack. In fact, I think it is one of the things that make this game as fun as it is. It just pulls you right into the dogfighting experience, which is essential for the kind of game that this is.
As I mentioned earlier, this is a game with a pretty American cast as developed by a Japanese developer. Whilst the voice cast are actually American, the game has a level of pro ‘Murrica that is quite low, which adds a lot more believability and seriousness to the title. What the game does to make you care about the characters and story instead is that it treats the characters like actual people and not plot points with pro ‘Murrica dialogue.
Overall
Overall Ace Combat Assault Horizon ENHANCED EDITION is a pretty fun game. I absolutely enjoyed my time with the game and would heartily recommend it to anyone that loves flying, going fast and/or engaging in fun dogfights. Whilst it suffers from a couple of missions that detract from the experience, it is overall a positive experience when you combine all of the elements of the title. Heartily recommended title.
To celebrate the successful launch of Pixel People, and to coincide with Valentine’s Day, Chillingo and LambdaMu Games have released a fact-filled Pixel People Infographic. Find out how many years players have spent in their Utopias, how many clones have been spliced, and much more!
If you haven’t already done so, check out Pixel People now, for FREE. Download it via the iTunes Store, (link here) there is certainly hours and hours of fun to be had mixing and splicing up new and exciting Pixel People!
If you’re already part of the fun let us know what you think of the game in the comments section below!
Seriously it’s been a long time coming. Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 has gotten delay after delay, setback after setback, and now it’s finally going to see the light of day. Today City Interactive announced that development had officially concluded on the sniper simulation title and fans will be able to get their hands on the game March 12th for the US and March 15th for Europe.
CEO of City Interactive Marek Tyminski spoke about the achievement:
“Since release, the first Sniper: Ghost Warrior has sold over three million copies on multiple platforms. Ghost Warrior 2 will deliver an even greater experience for all those fans of the first game, expanding on this dramatic, exciting world of elite military service.”
Stepping into the role of Captain Cole Anderson, players must employ stealth, cunning and patience to nail that perfect shot in the gorgeous jungles of Burma, the war-torn city of Sarajevo and the dangerous Tibet Mountains. Running on the impressive CryEngine 3, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 is shooting for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. Look out for it next month on the 12th and 15th of March for the US and Europe respectively.
Get excited Devil May Cry fans! The much anticipated, highly desired Bloody Palace mode for DmC Devil May Cry is officially coming to your game on the 20th of February. Time to practice that juggling, train for those triple S combos and combine your weapons with devastating efficiency because you’re in for the fight of your life.
Originally introduced in Devil May Cry 3 as a way to get the most out of the game’s stellar combat without having to re-play story missions, the Bloody Palace mode is an essential part of the Devil May Cry experience for any long or short term fan. We here at Capsule Computers thoroughly enjoyed the title, and you can check out our thoughts of the game here.
Hackycat may sound like an unjustifiably violent game that targets one of the cutest animals known to man but you should know that if you don’t kick these cats, they explode. So in the end, it is the lesser of two evils. Anyways, Hackycat is a new game for iOS devices developed by Ken Wong, the famed Art Director for Alice: Madness Returns. Ken has managed to meld the morbid and the cute yet again. This time the game features a lo-fi hand drawn cartoon style that brings to life numerous characters for you to kick or kick cats at.
As a cute score-attack juggler for your iOS device, Hackycat sets a fast pace to keep you on your toes as you punt your way to top, unlocking heaps of cool goodies on your way. Ken Wong hasn’t just confined himself to the art, he’s gone all out, branching off into programming and design for this project.
The game, which can be bought here, costs only $0.99 on the app store and is a much needed source of stress relief. They even have a hipster cat which I personally can’t wait to kick the skin off of.
Don’t worry though, Marvel’s own Merc with a Mouth is here to keep you company. Yes, that’s right, Deadpool himself has sent you a personal Valentines Day card. He sent it to us first though, so we’ll be passing it on to you as a proxy. Just check out the attached image below!
Just remember guys, Deadpool isn’t quite all there mentally. Is this a Valentines Card, or could it be for… something more? Only you should be able to discern that for yourself. Don’t get shot too much.
Today Rockstar Games announced that they will be presenting the 2013 Red Hook Criterium Championship Series which will be kicking off on March 20th at Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in New York. In case you didn’t know, the Red Hook Criterium is an unsanctioned race series featuring world-class road racers, track specialists, bike messengers and even urban athletes competing around a short technical circuit.
The bikes that people will be using are fixed gear track bikes and anyone who wants to participate must possess both a high level of fitness and street-tuned handling skills. The RHC is now a four-part championship series that will be held in select urban locations around the world. To learn more about the specifics of each event you can check out the official Red Hook Criterium Event page here, however if you’re simply interested in the location and date of each of the events that info can be found below:
March 30th Red Hook Criterium Brooklyn Cruise Terminal
Ubisoft and Ratpr are teaming up to give players at home that are also Raptr users the opportunity to earn some awesome rewards from the service. These could come in the form of rewards, as well as copies of the previous games.
Ubisoft and Raptr have teamed up to reward Assassin’s Creed III gamers for playing the new Tyranny of King Washington DLC (releasing 02/19/2013) with a chance to win games, avatar items, and more! You can earn some pretty sweet stuff simply by meeting the qualifying ranks and getting in-game achievements.
The rewards are posted on the Raptr services official website. Just remember that by participating in this contest, you will likely be spamming your friends Twitter and Facebook pages with messages from the service. So make sure you you do your best to qualify and win those rewards.
