The Last of Us will feature a multiplayer mode, Naughty Dog community strategist Arne Meyer has confirmed in a post on the PlayStation Blog. While he said that the company is “not quite ready” to talk about what exactly this will entail, further details will be shared before the Playstation 3 game’s May 7th release date.
Although Naughty Dog is not talking about specifics about the multiplayer mode for The Last of Us just yet, that’s not keeping the studio from revealing multiplayer-specific preorder bonuses. The first preorder bonus, available at “participating retailers,” is the Sights and Sounds Pack. This includes the official soundtrack for The Last of Us, a PS3 dynamic theme, and two avatars: Winter Joel and Winter Ellie.
For those who reserve The Last of Us specifically at GameStop, they will receive the Survival Pack, which includes bonus experience points, a melee attack booster, extra in-game cash, customizable items, and two bonus skins that can be unlocked after the single-player game is completed.
The Assassin’s Creed series hasn’t been one to shy away from DLC or even single player DLC, as that’s where the series first got started with it in Assassin’s Creed II with the additional semi-side sequences for Desmond and Ezio to explore. After that and the addition of multiplayer, Ubisoft has tried to have at least a little of each type of DLC for players to experience should they be interested. However, it was always a part of the bigger story, even if it was a small part it never headed off to left field. Until now.
Where once the Ubisoft team set the history books aside for a little bit to add a little flair to the game for the players to enjoy, with the upcoming release of the Assassin’s Creed III single player DLC, they throw it out the window. “The Tyranny of King Washington” is based around the idea of real general George Washington opting for a monarchy in lieu of presidency and makes Connor have to deal with his former ally.
Players can check out the trailer embedded below to get a little glimpse of this “what if” scenario as well as Connor wearing some cool new duds with an animal companion, both looking thrilled to see their good friend George again. Not really. Sharpen your blades, prepare to end his tyranny.
Upcoming Mecha shooter HAWKEN is launching its Open Beta campaign in less than two days. At the time of writing the game has one day and sixteen hours until launch. What’s important about this is that the team behind the game have stated that you should be able to grab the game client early to ensure you make the most out of the Open Beta period before launch. However, their site has yet to have any links to the launcher just yet.
The team has promised server locations in each of the main regions of the world, ensuring that players have the smoothest ping possible. These include: US West, US East, UK, Asia North, Asia South, and Oceania.
If you’re a player that was participating in the Closed Beta, you will find that you will have lost your progress within the game. This is unless you have obtained items from the Vanguard Initiative.
Be sure to check out the news posting here. See you all on the Battlefield 😀
Tomorrow the PlayStation Network will receive its standard update and this time around two more games will be added to the Instant Game Collection for PlayStation Plus members. The two games happen to be a digital title named Rochard and a full retail title in the form of Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition. It is worth noting that last week PlayStation Plus members were able to download BioShock 2 for free as well.
Unfortunately this does mean that there still have been no new PlayStation Vita Plus offers since Sony launched the service on the handheld a few weeks ago, which may leave Vita owners with at least a few questions concerning future offerings.
As you may already know, Tecmo Koei is currently planning on releasing another Ninja Gaiden title on the PlayStation Vita in the form of Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma Plus which just so happens to be a port of the enhanced version of Ninja Gaiden II that was originally released on the PlayStation 3 back in 2009. Still with me? Well this new version of the game will feature a few new modes such as Tag Missions and Ninja Race as well as some bonus costumes for the female characters in the game, Ayane, Rachel and Momiji.
Today Tecmo Koei chose to release a number of screenshots showing off some action scenes from the game as well as some images of the Tag Missions and Ninja Race in action. Check out the images below and keep an eye out for the game when it is released in North America sometime early in 2013.
Gabriel Belmont has always had a number of weapons at his disposal in the Castlevania series and it seems that the next game in the series, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, will see the addition of one more weapon. Over the weekend we saw the release of a new trailer for the game at the VGAs and in this trailer a new weapon was debuted.
Well today Konami revealed that the weapon is going to be called the Void Sword and you can see it briefly in the trailer below. Also below are a number of new screenshots released today. For those who don’t know, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 takes place hundreds of years after the first game where Dracula has awoken once again. Currently Konami has Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 set for a release sometime in 2013 on the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Today Namco Bandai Games Europe revealed that they will be bringing One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 over to Europe at the very least sometime in the summer of next year. It is interesting to note that the company did not mention that the PlayStation Vita version of the game making the trip overseas which means that that version of the game is still Japan-exclusive.
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 follows the Straw Hat Pirates on a number of new adventures which follow the New World story arc in the manga and there will be multiple stages which were not included in the original version of the game, including the Skypiea arc if the screenshots below are anything to go by. It is worth noting that Namco Bandai also revealed that the first game in the series, One Piece: Pirate Warriors, managed to sell over 1.2 million copies worldwide since it’s release.
Namco Bandai and FromSoftware have released their announcement trailer first shown on the SpikeTV Video Game Awards hosted by Samuel L. Jackson. The trailer showcases the games announcement as coming soon and being in development. Players and fans of the original Dark Souls will absolutely want to check this out.
The trailer is quite dark in nature, showcasing the dark and turbulent world of Dark Souls. Players can expect this game to have a similar visual aesthetic to its precursor, Dark Souls. I’m just hoping they fix those horrible controls. Urk, what a turn-off.
Epic Mickey: The Power of Illusion Developer:DreamRift Publisher: Disney Interactive Platform: 3DS Release Date: November 23rd Price:£29.99 – Available Here
Overview:
As the Disney song goes, “When you wish upon a star, Makes no difference who you are. Anything your heart desires, Will come to you.. If your heart is in your dream, No request is too extreme…”. One wish long-standing gamers though was too extreme, though, was for a sequel to Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, yet all these years later those who dared to dream got what they wanted. DreamRift has come out with a sequel of sorts to Castle of Illusion which adds gameplay elements from the Epic Mickey games, Mickey Mouse’s modern day gaming exploits. But is it any good?
Story:
According to the developers the story follows on directly from Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two. Mizrabel is up to her old antics and the Castle of Illusion is back as she attempts to trap the population of Toon World for her own evil devices. Disney characters good and bad have been sucked into the spell and as time passes their presence in the real world grows smaller as Mizrabel grows stronger using their heart power.
As one of the only toons that hasn’t been locked in the tower, you have to retrieve your peers before it’s too late and they’re trapped in the illusion forever. Some of them are toons familiar to Mickey, some are friendly Disney characters not part of his universe, some are villains which Mizrabel is manipulating to attack Mickey who will need to be knocked to their senses before they can be saved; all must be brought to the safety of ‘The Fortress’ just outside the Castle of Illusion before Mizrabel’s handiwork can be undone.
Gameplay:
It’s a 2D side-scrolling plat former like Castle of Illusion but with renewed focus on action, because as well as Mickey’s bottom bash attack, he can now do a spin attack and use his paint and thinner. Paint, thinner and the spin attack were all introduced by the Epic Mickey series, but as it’s on a handheld, Epic Mickey: The Power of Illusion has its own variation of these. Spin attack works much the same, but the paint and thinner are flung as blobs as a projectile attack, rather than the constant stream of the console version. Like the console versions, you don’t have limitless supply of paint and thinner – their levels are represented by individual gauges that recharge over time.
The other use of paint and thinner is to create and destroy in-world objects, but under a totally new system to the console versions. The way it works in Epic Mickey: The Power of Illusion is, using the two screens of the 3DS, when you see something that can be interacted with using the magic paintbrush on the bottom screen, you can touch it with the stylus, which pauses the action on the top screen and prompts a mini-game where you have to trace the given lines of the object as well as you can.
The quality of your drawing determines the quality of the object you create, meaning if you are slapdash with your brush (stylus) strokes, the platform you painted so you could climb higher could have spikes on it, or the cannon you formed could be as likely to hinder you as help you. It’s a clever idea and one that I haven’t seen before. On the other hand, the constant stopping and starting of gameplay to trace an outline of something doesn’t do wonders for the pace of the game. Gameplay never flows freely due to the constant interruption of having to draw something, often whether you want to or not because the outline in question is the patch of floor you need to progress through a level.
In other areas the game doesn’t flow smoothly either. It’s a linear, up and down, straight lines, make-your-way-to-the-exit affair, with decent boss battles at certain points along the road. Unfortunately, the developers have tried to make the aforementioned safe house “The Fortress” a hub world, encouraging you to go back after each complete level to make sure your latest rescuee is settling in okay. They then set side quests for you to do which require you to back track through levels to find something of theirs.
It wouldn’t be such a problem if these quests didn’t often hold the key to moving forward with the story, but they do which means a lot of dull backtracking isn’t just for perfectionists but for anyone who wants to make it to the end of the game. This means that as well as progress being slow-going in the levels thanks to painting and thinning objects, in the grand scheme of things the game ticks along at a pedestrian pace.
Initially, as the game goes over the control scheme in the simplest terms, you worry the level of challenge stays in the hand-holding realm. Thankfully, though, as you go on it reaches a good level of difficulty so as to be enjoyed independently, leaving you to work out some stuff for yourself. Then it’s over as quickly as it began. For the game to be so short after such a long wait for fans, to snatch it away in this fashion just as you’re getting used to the finer points of the control scheme, is almost cruel. You think the pangs of Disney-branded nostalgia, the roaming through the worlds of the Disney back catalogue and the rescuing of familiar faces is all going to carry on, then before you know it you’re at the end.
Visuals & Audio:
The hand-drawn sprites and sweet music make the game look and sound deceivingly good. While the gameplay doesn’t quite match the visual and audio value punch for punch, it still deserves merit for constructing such a charming world for you to enjoy. The 2D levels have a nice sense of depth to them, even without the 3D enabled, and the effect of walking through a half-complete illusion so that one side of the level is castle, the other is Disney fantasy, looks cool. The dialogue is cute, with loads of little jingles for completing a level or a side-quest and, for some reason, the sound of Mickey dying is funny.
Overall:
All in all, it’s fantastic to see what is essentially a revival of a much-loved older series; in true Disney spirit, it brings hope to those who may have lost it and shows you should never say never. No one would have predicted a spiritual successor to Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and here we are. Sadly, the additions taken from modern Mickey pack some neat ideas but are ultimately the games downfall. Having to constantly stop the action and paint something separately on the touch screen means you don’t get to stretch your legs properly as Mickey. The backtracking spoils the rhythm of the game too; it’s uninspired and most probably something added to lengthen what would otherwise be a brief interlude of a game.
South Park is a major franchise and from the looks of things, THQ realizes that. You see, over the weekend during the VGAs the company revealed a very exciting looking trailer for the company’s upcoming South Park: The Stick of Truth title and today the company has chosen to release the finalized box art for the game.
The trailer can be seen below which includes some episode-quality visuals which could possibly be from actual gameplay segments, some elements of the game’s storyline, as well as a cross-dressing Kenny and the box art can be seen to the right (click the image for a very high-res version of the box art). Currently South Park: The Stick of Truth is slated for release sometime in 2013.
