The original Sniper: Ghost Warrior was met with pretty cold reviews upon its release and let’s be pretty honest, it mostly deserved them. Featuring a plethora of glitches, terrible AI, poor shooting mechanics and enemies that could spot you hiding in a bush from a hundred metres away; most would agree that the game didn’t really deliver on its promise of a true sniper experience.
However, City Interactive means to take all those complaints to heart in their sequel, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 which runs on the new buttery smooth CryEngine 3 (also being used for Crysis 3 if you want to compare). They recently released a Gameplay Teaser to show off how they’ve spent their development time so far and to be fair, it is looking pretty cool.
The graphics have been completely overhauled for the new engine and some improved stealth mechanics look set to hopefully bring the game back on track with what City Interactive hoped to achieve with the original. Although there is an excessive amount of loud breathing going on whenever the player zooms in and a somewhat questionable scene where we see a companion butcher a guard for their own “butchering” (I’m really hoping your character doesn’t agree with it in the game); for the most part the game seems promising.
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 is set for release on January 15th in North America and January 18th in Europe, appearing on the PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PS Vita and Nintendo Wii U.
The European release for Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires has been announced as February 22, 2013 just a few days after the North American release date of February 19th, 2013. An exclusive for the PlayStation 3, the newest Dynasty Warriors game continues adding to its already large repertoire of playable characters by introducing Xu Shu, an advisor of Liu Bei, which will bring the total number of playable character up to 66.
Focusing less on the big historical figures as they went around fighting each others’ armies, Empires shakes up the general Dynasty Warriors formula and focus on the player. Allowing players to do fit their own play styles and having their choices impact the position of the character. Earn up to become a Ruler, seize and invade to be a Strategist, or sell your power to be a Free Officer. Even better for socialites, characters can be shared online and incorporated into others world, play history and all making for simulated multiplayer.
Be sure to look for Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires when it comes out in Europe on February 22nd or North America on February 19th for the PlayStation 3.
In a fantastic week for Nintendo, the Wii U has reached 400,000 sales. Even more impressive is that its predecessor managed to rack up 300,000 units sold as well, exemplifying the Wii’s unique attraction to consumers at large.
This figure could have been even higher as well, with Nintendo unable to keep up with demand for the Wii U console. “Wii U is essentially sold out of retail and we are doing our best to continually replenish stock,” President of Nintendo America, Reggie Fils-Aime has said. This was a very similar case when the Wii first launched back in 2006, when most retailers’ stock couldn’t support walk-in purchases until a few years later.
With the Black Friday deals coming to a close, Reggie Fils-Aime has announced that the total sales for Nintendo hardware last week, according to its internal data, has exceeded 1.2 million units. Aside from the Wii and Wii U, the handheld devices have together sold over 500,000 units, with 250,000 and 275,000 sales for the 3DS and DS respectively.
Fils-Aime has suggested that the reasons behind the DS outselling the 3DS are the deals retailers put forth for the DS, making it a far more compelling buy.
Jetpack Joyride Developer: Halfbrick Studios Publisher: Beat Shapers, Halfbrick Platform : PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita (reviewed), PlayStation Portable Release Date: November 21, 2012 Price: $3.99
Overview
Have you played Jetpack Joyride? I have. I played it to death over a year ago on a little thing called an iPhone. Indeed Barry’s adventure with a jetpack is one of the most popular games to have hit the smart phone gaming market, and has without doubt been hugely successful. It is now available for free on both iOS and Android.
So here we have the Sony version of the game, compatible with the PSP, PS3 and the PS Vita. Classed as a ‘mini’, the game will set you back $3.99 – which in all fairness is a little steep for something over a year old you can get for nothing elsewhere.
Gameplay
JJ is a one button game. You control Barry, a bloke who for some reason has stolen a jetpack and is stuck in a neverending side scrolling laboratory packed full of hazardous laser beams, zappers, and an infinit supply of cruise missiles. Players control the altitude of the jetpack and must dodge obstacles and collect coins and power ups in a bid to keep going for as long as humanly possible.
What makes an already fun mechanic highly addictive is the added reward structures. Keep collecting coins and you can buy rafts of new goodies – jetpacks, power ups, new shoes, whatever – there is a host of stuff to spend your hard earned cash on. The clincher in the addictiveness stakes is the ranking system, which sets you star challenges that reward you with coins and higher levels for completion. These range from the easy – collect 100 coins – to the weird – high five a dozen scientists in one run. With three active challenges at all times there is always something achievable to direct the gameplay, to push you in to just that one more run.
Barry can also pick up spin coins for end of run gambling that can add bonuses to the next run, provide a coin reward or even kick his presumably lifeless corpse just that little bit further after crashing out. More entertaining than that is the inclusion of vehicles, which act not only as entertaining gamechangers but allow you to take a hit without dying. There’s a teleporter, motorcycle and a giant DragonBall Z-esque dragon to be found amongst others, and their inclusion of course expands the wealth of missions available.
There’s no denying the gameplay is excellent, polished and highly addictive.
Jetpack Joyride is a near perfect combination of what makes a casual game great, something that you find yourself playing for much much longer than intended. HOWEVER, the Vita version is exactly the same as other previously released and free editions of the game. The only differences are extremely minor – you start off with the machine gun jetpack for example. This $3.99 version is essentially a PSP mini, with no trophies and no integration of Vita specific controls. Tricks have certainly been missed, and it is questionable why anyone would prefer this version of the game – making the fairly safe assumption that the majority of the gaming population has access to iOS , Android or simply Facebook.
Audio & Visual
Jetpack is a colourful and slightly kooky cartoon delight. From Barry’s dodgy haircut to small background details it’s clear that a lot of love has gone into the design. Things never become cluttered, and the interface is simple and smooth to enhance the ‘neverending’ style of gameplay. The music fits nicely into place, although it’s not something that particularly stands out. What does jump out is that much like the gameplay nothing has changed from previous iterations of the game – so don’t go into this expecting any tweaks or changes.
Overall
Jetpack Joyride is a fantastic game, and one of the classics of the revitalised and now dominant casual handheld market. Addictive as hell and perfectly formulated, the cartoon style and endless gameplay make it a quick and easy entry into favourite time waster territory. Thing is, everyone’s played it, or can play it for free. With no trophies and no price justifying differences – what on earth’s the point? With a point knocked off for missing an oppurtunity to evolve, Jetpack Joyride nonetheless still scores high.
After being delayed back in September because of a lawsuit with Rimowa GmbH, Marvel has finally updated us all on the new, slightly more generic look for the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled Blu-ray box-set. Not only that, but the now April-bound box-set will come with a few additionally enticing features.
Pictures released by Marvel.com show a more plain briefcase design, except for the front face which is inspired by Tony Stark’s ‘Arc Reactor’ palladium core (Can be seen clearly in the image below). The mammoth set is planned to include all the previously announced bonus materials, but Marvel felt they needed to sweeten the deal to make up for the lengthy delay. And so, they have announced that the box-set will now come with previews of each film in Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two, which includes the Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Ant-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers 2 films.
Depending on the film – and considering their varied release dates and production schedules – these previews may consist of “footage, concept art, and a few new surprises. Also, look for a nod to Iron Man 3 in the Tony Stark S.H.I.E.L.D. file in the box set”, says Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige . There’ll also be never before released deleted scenes and footage contained in the set, including an alternate ending to Thor. Feige toldEW, “We went back to the editor’s assembly of each film and discovered some rare moments that dropped out of the films early on and had not been released on prior discs. We spent an embarrassing amount of time compiling the ‘Shield Files’ included in the box set to be sure that each character’s file was full of great, movie-accurate props and Easter eggs, which help tie all of the Phase one [Marvel Comics Universe] films together.”
For anyone who pre-ordered the originally planned set, will these inclusions make up for the near 7 month delay? Let us know in the comments below!
The first look at Australian made Fallout: Lanius has appeared this morning on the movies’ youtube channel, and it is looking great. Wade Savage, creator of the film, has yet to release any footage from this small-budget so it is exciting to finally see how the film may end up looking. The project was announced earlier this year and has received over $11,000 of support to date, a full $1000 more than first sought after.
No word on when Fallout: Lanius will be released as of yet. Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think in the comments section.
Through a recent interaction with a fan on twitter, Ken Levine has revealed that there will be “no multi” in 2K’s highly anticipated title Bioshock: Infinite.
RT @tha_don_101: @IGLevine can you clear up whether or not Bioshock Infinite will have multiplayer modes? —Nope.
After Levine’s confusing first response to the question “can you clear up whether or not Bioshock Infinite will have multiplayer modes?” from user tha_don_101, a later tweet revealed the answer everyone was looking for.
RT @wolverine11111: @IGLevine Does that mean nope it won't or nope you can't clear that issue up? –No multi.
This may not come as a surprise to many fans of the series, as Bioshock 2’s multiplayer servers have been relatively quiet. This news hopefully means that the single player campaign is beefed up and consolidated as the series’ third instalment has been greatly hyped, while its release date has already been pushed back from October 16 of this year, it will now be shipping February 26, 2013.
Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper Developer: Omega Force Publisher: Tecmo Koei Platform: Nintendo Wii U Release Date: November 18, 2012 Price: $59.99 – BUY NOW
Overview
Warriors Orochi 3 launched a bit earlier this year on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, and it was a fine Warriors game, featuring nothing but fan service and love from Tecmo Koei. In a rather bold showing, Omega Force have released Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper for the Wii U as a launch title – featuring a new mode, a few new characters, and a brand new way to play via the Gamepad. Being a port, you would think this title’s success would be guaranteed. Does this Hyper version offer a repeat for fans or deliver as a nice entry place into the Warrior series for newcomers?
Story
Taking place years after Warriors Orochi 2, Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper places us in utter chaos, with a giant hydra wiping out entire armies. When all hope seems lost, the Moon Princess Kaguya emerges and grants three heroes the ability to travel back in time to save their fallen allies of the past.
Like most Warriors titles, Warriors Orochi 3 isn’t exactly a masterpiece when it comes to narrative, but the story is told effectively enough to keep one interested, and these vast and torn landscapes provide enough atmosphere to capture the plot throughout. Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper offers two new characters in the form of Shennong (from Chinese Lore) and Momiji (Ninja Gaiden), who offer a bit more, but not enough to warrant an entirely new purchase if you have already put the other versions of this title through it’s paces on the merits of storytelling alone.
Gameplay
Fluid gameplay is what the Warriors franchise is all about, as this modern day hack and slash/beat em up hybrid relies on combos in the hundreds and it’s deep move pools in order to succeed during each mission while moving forward to the next area of the game. Thankfully, the transfer to the Wii U does not harm any of the content, as all of the upgradable weapons, techniques, and of course characters are all here, leaving fans with little to complain about. As far as the controls go, things have also remained relatively the same, with all commands appropriately mapped out on the Gamepad controller.
The pro controller is also an option and is the ideal way to play the game, as the Gamepad offers no form of touch control or any use altogether aside from detached mode, which was definitely a sad sight to see considering how a title like Warriors Orochi 3 could have benefited from the device. A more fluid inventory system, touchscreen technique mapping, a full screen map – ANY of these options would have greatly improved the otherwise solid mechanics within the main game – but it seems that this port is really just that, with the same exact game being copied and pasted onto Nintendo’s new platform aside from a few extras.
Combat itself is fast paced and rewarding, with the player taking the role of three different warriors at once that can be changed between each other at the press of a button. Fans of the Warriors series will feel right at home with the button mashing blows that the series is known for, featuring our heroes mowing down crowds of foes by just mashing the few attack buttons to their heart’s content. Yes, it’s gratifying nailing a huge combo, and the ease to do so while changing up characters comes off as effortless, killing off a good portion of repetition that has plagued the long-standing series while rewarding the player with upgrades, new characters and weaponry as they progress.
Duel Mode is the big new feature for Hyper – and it’s definitely a large draw for those die-hard fans who buy every release Tecmo throws onto shelves each year. Utilizing the team member swapping mechanic, players are tasked to fight an opposing squad until just one team is left standing. As hits are made, battle points are racked up and can then be spent on attack cards. These cards are unlocked by playing through the Story Mode, and prove useful – offering up extra abilities such as increased attack, spells, and other techniques that can change the tide of a battle in an instant. This mode proves to be a very strategical and well thought out addition, and considering how the unlocks tie into story mode and the fact that you can battle other players online, it’s sure to do nothing but increase one’s time spent with the game.
Survival and Free Modes are also available, adding to the already large amount of content within Hyper, and offering more paths to new challenges for those who crave something different. Sure, not a lot has changed with Survival, but the combat is utterly addicting as it stands – providing the player is not already tired of the repetitive yet solid gameplay mechanics that this franchise is know for.
Visuals and Audio
Just like the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions under the same name, Orochi 3 is just as nice to look at on the Wii U – well…for the most part that is. While most textures and models appear the same, the game can have trouble keeping up when it comes to mass chaos. Slowdown then occurs from time to time, causing the fast-paced combat to stutter as the action overloads the experience. Now, this isn’t a common occurrence and isn’t exactly a deal breaker, but the framerate has taken a hit for this version that will be noticed by those who have already played through the superior cousins of Hyper. Some models can also disappear or render right in front of your eyes while in battle. Again, this isn’t exactly intrusive on the gameplay, but it is a bit head-scratching to see considering the supposed power of the Wii U and the more fluid animations that this same product has delivered on other platforms.
The audio work on the other hand is much more solid. All voices have been subbed (the dialogue has been untouched from the eastern version), and while I personally don’t know the language, you can still understand the emotion with the text due to the fine acting jobs of the cast, ensuring the player will not be playing through a story made out of lifeless husks. The soundtrack is pretty standard fare as well, keeping the atmosphere of battles exciting, while toning down for the more sentimental cutscenes. The sounds of the weapons on the battlefield is another well done feature with the audio, as every kill is just as gratifying as the next and gives great reason to unlock every tool of the trade due to how different each weapon feels and sounds.
Overall
Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper is exploding with content and never loses a beat where it matters most by bringing that sharp, fast-paced, and rewarding gameplay to the Wii U. Duel Mode is a fantastic addition and the two new characters are sure to attract all of those hardcore fans of the franchise. With that said, Hyper’s biggest problem isn’t really with it’s sluggish framerate or minor shortcomings that I mentioned earlier. Instead – the problem lies in the fact that this game fails to take the Wii U and do anything substantial with the console. The Gamepad’s only purpose is to stream the same exact game on two screens, and when you look at what much simpler titles offer for the same platform – that just isn’t good enough. Sure, this is a decently done port as a whole, but one that lives in the shadow of it’s own predecessors because of it’s fear to innovate.
Today a new game in the Steins;Gate franchise was announced by 5pb. and Mages and will be available for purchase in Japan next year on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game is being called Steins;Gate: Senkei Kousoku no Phenogram, or in English: Steins;Gate: Phenogram of Linear Restraint.
The title is being produced by Tatsuya Matsubara and Naotaka Hayashi is returning to be the scenario writer and chief manager for the game. Currently details about the game are unknown but when the game was announced a slide stating that “There are as many stories as laboratory members” was shown. Whether this means more side-stories or something else, is up to you. Until more information is released you can check out the game’s barebone official website here.
If you happened to be a fan of Biscotti, Galette or Pastillage or any of the various characters in these nations then you will be happy to hear that Dog Days is returning for a third season. The illustrator for the Dog Days manga, Fujima Takuya tweeted during the FlonyaFestival 2012 Dog Days event in Tokyo that this cheerful anime will be getting a third season.
スーパーサプライズ！ DOG DAYS第3期 制作決定です☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆ またみんなに会える！ #dogdays
Currently no extra information has been released about the third season so it is currently unknown when the series will be airing nor how long the season will last. However it is worth noting that Dog Days’ first two seasons aired during the Summer so it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to assume that Dog Days 3 may air in Summer 2013.
