With Sega and Gearbox Software’s Aliens: Colonial Marines set to be released in under a week, Sega has chosen to release a two and a half minute cinematic trailer that will take every fan of the Aliens series and make them weep in at least some form.
The trailer is an extended version of the “Contact Trailer” so it may be a bit familiar to a few of you, but it portrays the US Colonial Marines fighting for their lives against a swarm of Xenomorphs aboard the USS Sulaco. Check out the trailer below and keep an eye out for Aliens: Colonial Marines when it hits stores next week on February 12th for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and sometime later for the Wii U.
Let’s Fish! Hooked On Developer: SIMS Publisher: Wired Productions Platform: PlayStation Vita Release Date:January 29, 2013 Price: $19.99 – Available Here
Overview: The PlayStation Vita has had a very unique life so far in the gaming industry and despite being released a year ago at this point, there are still many game types which have yet to appear on Sony’s latest handheld. However among the missing genres, the fishing genre is not one of them. Originally part of the Vita’s launch window in Japan under the name Let’s Try Bass Fishing: Fish On, Wired Productions has brought this unique game over to the West as Let’s Fish! Hooked On. Is this combination of moe anime characters and fishing mechanics designed by the developers of Sega Bass Fishing a keeper? Let’s find out.
Story: Interestingly enough, Let’s Fish! Hooked On actually has a semblance of a story mode, which is very rare for a sports title, let alone a fishing game. The story of this title is all contained within the World Tour mode where players will be able to select from four different characters, each of which has their own minimalistic backstory and story line as well as a unique set of starting skills such as better hooking, casting and more.
Now let me say, this game’s story fits right into a few very Japanese tropes which would appear in an anime title, so a few people unaccustomed to storylines such as these will certainly be caught off guard. As for the characters, there are plenty of familiar characteristics and personalities here as well. The only male character is trying to live up to his father’s legacy, a childhood friend with a tsundere-loli personality tries to prove that she is capable of more than simply tagging along, a skilled female angler who is looking for more in life than simply fishing and oddly enough, a young female mage (magical girl) that is attempting to use fishing as a means to bring peace.
The only time the story is moved forward at all for these characters is occasionally throughout the World Tour and this usually happens after a certain tournament or an advancement in your rank. The characters have a certain sense of charm to them and those familiar with anime will probably have a laugh or two extra. While not a huge focus, wrapping up tournament play with even the semblance of a story is still interesting enough to be noteworthy for a fishing title.
Visuals & Audio: As far as graphics go, Let’s Fish! Hooked On is hit and miss. The first thing that can be said about the game is that it is very colorful and at times it actually is rather gorgeous looking on the Vita’s screen. The characters are nicely animated and whenever a dialogue section appears, their character portraits are impressively done and the anime style translates well into the 3D models used for the characters, including the standard moe traits the female cast has.
Above water, the environments are decently handled, though it should be worth noting that gamers will be spending the rest of their time below the water line and here things can become very iffy. The fish are nicely detailed, but have a horrible pop in rate, with fish suddenly appearing magically at times and while there are a few underwater scenes that are impressive with various underwater debris littering the lake bottom, there are a number of blocky textures that are so pixelated it wouldn’t even look proper on a PSP title, let alone a Vita game.
It is also worth noting that while the title’s focus isn’t on story, the dialogue sequences in the story mode are not handled like in a visual novel where players have control. Despite appearing like a visual novel, the dialogue plays out like a cut-scene that players are unable to control which is a minor gripe, but still something to pay attention to.
As far as background music goes, the game features some nice calming background tracks which work well for a game that can be played simply to relax such as this. It is worth noting that none of the in-game dialogue is voiced and the only actual voice work is for canned phrases that characters repeat ad nauseam during gameplay as they comment about what is happening. It is also worth noting that these phrases are only presented in English and there is no option to shift to whatever might have been available in the original Japanese version of the game.
Gameplay: Let’s Fish! Hooked On is a rather simplistic game at heart, but it is certainly one that can be a little bit confusing at first. This can be blamed on a number of things, such as the fact that the tutorial for the title is terribly done and players are ultimately left jumping into the deep end and either trying out the game’s basic training mode to figure things out, challenge mode to test themselves and try to rank on the world leaderboards or of course take on the game’s aforementioned World Tour story mode.
Now it should be worth noting that players should try and practice a little bit outside of the story mode first simply to get a handle on things. Whichever mode you choose, players are presented with a stage and a certain goal to usually catch a certain weight or amount of fish to reach a goal. Sometimes these goals are spiced up by only allowing certain fish such as Bass to be counted to your final total.
Now, once you enter the lake, players are able to pan to the left and right of a relatively large venue and they can zoom in to see if fish silhouettes appear near where they will be casting. Now, you see, Let’s Fish! Hooked On allows the player to use the touch screen controls or the basic face buttons to do a number of things in the game and the best way to make use of this feature is to combine the two. Players can cast the line out by tapping the circle button to select the spot, and again to determine their cast’s power/accuracy.
Once you’re under the water, you can either reel in using the face buttons such as X to reel in slowly, circle to reel in quickly, triangle to let line out to reduce tension or triangle to instantly bring the line back. Of these buttons the only really useful one is the triangle as it can quickly undo a poorly aimed or planned cast and save you time. Instead all of these reeling maneuvers can be done through a touch screen slider on the right side of the screen, the higher you raise the slider the faster the line is reeled in and if you drag it all the way to the bottom, it lets the line out.
Why should you do this you may ask? Well whenever you catch a fish, a quick time event appears that forces the player to slide a hook icon into a fish icon to properly hook the fish. Plus after hooking a fish, players will need to often swipe another icon in a certain direction to reduce line-tension and prevent the fish from snapping the line or tossing the lure. By using only the touch screen for reeling, hooking and reducing tension, players will have an easier time of things, though of course certain fish will still be challenging of course.
If this isn’t you’re thing, then players can still use the analog stick to try and hook the fish and avoid breaking the line, however it is less accurate than simply using the touch screen controls and trying to quickly adjust your hand placement may cause a fish to get away.
Now catching and reeling a fish in may be putting the cart before the horse here however, as you will still need to select a proper lure to catch those fish. There are a number of lures to choose from all ranging from either floating lures and bottom lures to lures that float at a certain depth. The game provides a helpful “allure” meter for each lure in the tackle box which shows how attractive a certain piece of bait is for the stage you’re currently on. This allure can be raised and lowered while under the water depending on how you reel in the lure, so trying to make you’re bait mimic a sickly fish or drowning insect may be useful depending on how the allure meter changes.
However there is an issue here… and that is the fact that the fish AI is very poorly handled. While attracting fish may seem relatively easy and the camera pans around to let you know when a fish is interested and about to bite, the fish itself is the problem. I can’t even count the number of times fish were more than ready to bite the lure, swam at it with their mouths wide open and missed by a wide margin. Even stationary bait can cause fish to simply open their mouths, swim into the lure and miss it entirely and this can repeat up to five times for one single fish, and it gets even worse when multiple fish are attracted to the same lure, as it simply becomes embarrassing to watch open mouthed fish swim in circles for a minute before finally giving up as the stationary lure was too difficult to catch.
Overall: To say that Let’s Fish! Hooked On is an oddity wouldn’t be too far of a stretch. It has taken two things which seem rather separate from one another and put them together in a decently managed game. While poor fish AI and a few graphical issues are problematic, the game’s lengthy campaign featuring four enjoyable characters each with a little story of their own makes up for it slightly. The biggest thing with Let’s Fish! Hooked On is that it is a fun title that you can easily pass the time with, whether you’re trying to make your way through the challenges, following the story of one of the characters or simply watching the fish swim around in the game’s underwater viewer, Let’s Fish! Hooked On, despite it’s flaws, is an enjoyable title with plenty of charm.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Pinball is one of the most played games ever in the entire world, it is a game so popular that nobody has really dared to mess with the mechanics of the game since its inception. However, what if there was a game that did? Well, there is a game like that and it is called PinWar.
The idea behind the game is that two players have a half of a pinball table each. They must then battle it out to stop the ball from falling into their own respective pits. The winner is declared when the ball enters the opposing players pit.
Be sure to check out the launch trailer below. The app is available on the App Store for iOS systems for a price of $1.99.
A brand new trailer for the upcoming Cirque Du Soliel: World’s Away film from Paramount Pictures has been released. The visually stunning 3D film has been reviewed by us in the past, and, well, you should definitely check out review for the film here to see/hear our thoughts on it.
The film is directed by James Cameron and utilises state of the art 3D film-making techniques to make it look really awesome. While the trailer is in two dimensions, you’ll still be bale to see the vibrancy of colours and catch a glimpse of some of the amazing performances shown in the film.
Be sure to check out the trailer embedded below for more details.
Today marks the worldwide release of SNK Playmore’s ‘Metal Slug 2’ on the iOS and Android platforms.
The classic NEOGEO 2D run-and-gun title joins its predecessor, Metal Slug, and its successor Metal Slug 3 (talk about out of order!) on the Google Play and App Stores. The conversion is a perfect port that also introduces some new and unique features. Here are the key additions:
An “arcade-perfect” NEOGEO port with Extra Features! In addition to the traditional ARCADE MODE, you can select any mission you have previously cleared and play them separately in MISSION MODE. You can play your favorite stages at will and train on the missions you have not mastered yet!
Precise and Customizable Controls! The Autofire function allows you to fire your weapons continuously by holding down the Shot button. Moreover, you can reposition the buttons outside of the game screen area in WINDOW MODE. Enjoy every pixel of METAL SLUG 2 with your very own custom controls!
Engage into intense Multiplayer gameplay via Bluetooth! The more bullets and rockets, the merrier! Now you can enjoy METAL SLUG 2 with a friend through a Bluetooth connection. Team up to overcome the difficult missions METAL SLUG 2 has to offer!
Compatible with Network Ranking functions! Compete for the best scores with players all over the world through the network function of your favorite smartphone device. Build experience on the battlefield, and hone your skills to become the Best Player in the World!
Check out the gallery of screenshots below. You can get it now for $3.99 on the App Store and Google Play store:
Fans of Capcom have probably been wondering which games would be becoming available for their Arcade Cabinet series appearing on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Well, Capcom have released a list of all the games that are currently planned to appear on the service, as well as their prices and release dates.
What’s interesting is that the titles will be appearing from February into may and will recreate many classics from 1984-89. Players will also have the ability to share videos and screenshots of their gameplay experiences. Even more interesting is that when you purchase all of the games in the catalogue, players will gain access to an additional two titles absolutely free.
Alien Breed Developer: Team 17 Publisher: Team 17 Platforms: PlayStation 3 (Reviewed), PlayStation Vita Release Date: February 6, 2013 (EU), February 12, 2013 (US) Price: £6.49/€7.99/$9.99 – Available Here
Overview: Alien Breed has been around for over two decades. It was originally released for the Amiga in 1991, just a year after developer Team 17 opened its doors. Though it has gone through severaliterations, Team 17 have decided that it was time to grace the public with a re-release of their original blockbuster, as well as bundling a few other goodies along with it for the ride. How does it hold up? Should it be hoisted to its own home world or left on the space station with an active nuke? Let’s find out.
Story:
The story of the Alien Breed series is fairly standard science fiction fare. The year is 2191. Humans are no longer bound to stay on our home world and space colonization abounds. Just like people, crime has spread across the galaxy, so the I.P.C. is formed. Two of the IPC’s crack agents, Johnson and Stone, are called in to check out a renegade station that has gone completely dark. Little do they know what awaits them inside.
Gameplay:
For the uninitiated, Alien Breed is a top-down shooter with a bit of a survival-horror vibe. As you walk through each level, you will pick up money, health kits (that’s right kiddos – no regenerating health back in the day), and keys to open doors with the primary goal of working your way down through the space station one floor at a time, usually destroying the previous floor before you do.
The PlayStation Network’s re-release comes bundled with quite a few goodies for fans of the original Alien Breed. On top of the original six-level game that was released over two decades ago, the package also comes with four additional pieces of material to play through. Alien Breed: Special Edition, long considered to be the peak of the Alien Breed experience, comes with 12 levels (including the original six) to play through. Also included are the Convergence, Valiance, and Synergy packs, each of which contain four levels. Start to finish, that puts this overall package at 30 levels to play through.
On top of the added level packs, several other goodies have been tossed in too. The game includes the original experience, complete with 16-bit graphics, original sound effects, and the inability to shoot at anything you aren’t looking at. Given how far games have come in the last 22 years, it can be hard to swallow this version if you weren’t a fan of the original to begin with. Newcomers will likely want to give this a go just to see what it was like then go right back to the Enhanced version.
The Enhanced version has done wonders for updating the game over the years. The entire game has had a graphical facelift. On top of that, the sound effects have also been brought up to date. The most notable update, though, is in the control scheme. The enhanced edition allows players to use their right joystick to effectively turn the game into a twin stick shooter. This does wonders for playability, though at times it will actually make you question whether the game should be even harder than it is.
Regardless of the version you play, the mechanics are the same. Each level is set up like an intricate maze with a goal to reach. There is always a short story setup to let you know why you’re doing what you’re doing. The goals usually wind up boiling down to reaching a point or multiple points on the map and either touching them, blowing them up, or destroying whatever creatures lurks there. Along the way, you’ll pick up keys to get you through doors. There are also one-way laser-based doors. One of the most frustrating things about the game, especially to newcomers early on, is going through one of these one-way doors with no keys and getting trapped inside a room with five lives to spare. There’s literally nothing you can do at that point but end your run of that level and start again. It can be infuriating.
The really difficult part comes after accomplishing your goal, though. The screen will turn red and you will have a timer, usually 60 to 90 seconds, start timing down. With alarms blaring, you will have to make a mad dash to a lift to get off the level. While this sounds fairly basic, it’s compounded with the fact that you’ll have to work your way backward through the maze, taking out the xenomorphs you encounter along your way. If you take a wrong turn, it can land you in a dead end, wasting precious seconds that could cost you your life. It’s a truly exhilarating experience, but it can end in total disaster, forcing you to replay the entire mission.
When you first start the game, you’re equipped with only a machine gun. As you earn money, though, you can go into an in-game menu and purchase new weapons. These include things like shotguns, laser rifles that bounce off walls, flame throwers, and more, and give the game a fascinating and much needed change of pace, as you’re usually ready to try something new by the time you can buy it. Much like the Contra series, this gives you a whole slew of ways to take on the alien horde. There are a total of 12 guns to buy, giving you a full array of firepower at the end of the day.
As you progress through the game, whether you conquer or die, moving from level to level or across campaigns, your progress stays with you. If you’ve unlocked a gun at any point, you can always access it later. This gives the game a real sense of accomplishment and it can be fun to show off your arsenal to friends.
Speaking of showing off your arsenal to your friends, you can have a buddy jump in to play couch co-op or online co-op with you. It feels great and the pair of you can choose whether to stick close together or split up to explore some more. While the game is great on its own, playing games like Alien Breed are always much more entertaining with a buddy.
Visual & Audio:
The retro graphics and audio are true to their 1991 release. It feels like being a child again. That said, the visual and audio upgrades in the Enhanced version are very much appreciated. Everything is a bit crisper, including sound effects. Don’t expect much in the way of music, though. There is only one sci-fi track that plays at the menu, and music is completely non-existent in the middle of gameplay. Sound in-game amounts to little more than the humming of engines, the sounds of firing guns, the screams of dying aliens, and an incredibly obnoxious AI that will let you know when you need a key or health over and over and over again.
Overall: Alien Breed is a great package that brings back a classic game but updates it for playability and presentation in the process. There are a few minor bugs that will annoy from time to time, and the sound design feels virtually non-existent, but the gameplay is a lot of fun and for the price, you’re getting the game on both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. This is definitely one title shooter fans and people with old-school sensibilities should check out!
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
EA Mobile’s iOS smash-hit ‘The Simpsons: Tapped Out’ has now made it onto the Google Store. Having hit #1 on the iOS sales charts across 20 countries, the freemium title is now available to over 1,600 Android devices.
Group GM of EA All Play’s California and Bight Studios, Aaron Loeb, says; “It’s particularly exciting for us to bring The Simpsons: Tapped Out to Google Play for the first time and introduce a new audience of Android consumers to one of EA’s most successful and engaging mobile games.” Up to 3 million daily users can’t be wrong, so if you’re an Android user, now is the time to build your own Springfield. Download it from the Google Play store right here.
EA Mobile has also brought the two-player word-guessing game, ‘Word Smack’, to the North American Google Play store. In Word Smack, you will challenge your friends to “turn-based word-smacking fun”. The fun of the game is to discover as many 5-letter words as possible across 3 increasingly difficult rounds. Advantageous power-ups enable you to maximise your score, with the person who correctly guesses the most words in the fewest rounds being the ultimate winner. Download it for Android devices here.
Assassin’s Creed fans have a new reason to rejoice. Ubisoft have now announced that the famed brand will be getting it’s own action figure line, with McFarlane Toys leading the project. Yes, that means some high quality action figures, and the first wave seems to have a lot of promise.
Here are the details:
McFarlane Toys’ Assassin’s Creed series 1 will consist of seven figures including the fan favourite characters of Connor and Haytham Kenway. Connor will come as two action figures – one in his Assassin’s Creed III traditional Assassins garb and the second, as Ratonhnhaké:ton in the upcoming “Tyranny of King George” storyline. Each figure will be sculpted in the hyper-detail the award-winning McFarlane is known for with collectors and fans.
The Assassin Creed figure line of figures will stand approximately six inches tall, include an average of 25 points of articulation, and will come with a unique code that unlocks exclusive Assassin’s Creed video game content!
McFarlane Toys will be displaying a first look of the upcoming Assassin’s Creed action figure prototypes at the International Toy Fair show, February 10-13, booth #4921.
This licensing agreement is a pretty big deal, as it means the lore of the franchise can branch out even more. Making matters sweeter is that these figures will launch this summer, so keep an eye out as those temperatures rise.
The Hunt is on. Well, that is what EA want you to believe with Crysis 3, that is. Honestly, the game is looking sharp and is heading into it’s release date, so of course heavy promotion is a thing right now.
This sequel’s latest trailer shows off some fine looking gameplay, accompanied by “Liquid State” by Muse and set in an urban rainforest of the New York City Liberty Dome. It’s a great trailer, and one clip of what is sure to be many as Crysis 3 nears it’s February 19th release date. Check out the footage below, and crank of those speakers as this tune is pretty damn awesome with the gameplay bits used.
