Some exciting news this Halloween as Square Enix and Bigpoint have announced that Gameglobe, a new unique and inventive community driven gaming experience has entered its Beta stages and with it comes the Halloween Pack, chock full of terrifying surprises. Players are invited to join and either play one of the many levels created by other users or come up with something themselves to challenge other players. Hapti. co are the team behind Gameglobes development and have gone above and beyond to give the community a whole range of Halloween inspired props from Skeletons and Pumpkin pie health through to coffins filled to the brim with mysterious evil.
Take a look at some of the levels users have created so far on the Gameglobe website and let us know what you think, or send us some screenshots of some of your own creative efforts. For more information and to sign up please visit Gameglobe.com
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams Developer: Black Forest Games Publisher: Black Forest Games Platform : PC (reviewed) Release Date: 23rd October 2012 Price: $14.99
Overview
Kickstarter has become something of a breeding ground for passion project games. Whilst everything doesn’t go to plan 100% of the time, some projects do find their way through the minefield of development and land on their feet. Giana Sisters is one such title which has made it’s way through both Kickstarter and Steam’s Greenlight system. Originating from a 1987 Commodore 64 title called The Great Giana Sisters, this colorful platformer for the PC is also set for future release on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The first game was famous primarily for it’s great soundtrack and tricky platforming, but was also removed from sale for it’s unashamed copying of Super Mario Bros – the first level of the game was a near on perfect clone of the first level of Nintendos headliner.
Gameplay
Platforming remains the name of the game in Twisted Dreams , although things have moved on since the copy-cat fiasco of the original game. The brief introductory sequence sees two sisters sucked into a portal that leads to another world, with players stepping into the shoes of Giana to track down other sibling Maria. the story is very much secondary to the gameplay, leaving the game with a very arcade/retro feel.
The game strikes up some individuality in the form of the theme of two. Giana can switch between two different forms – each of which has a different special move, and the entire world changes along with the character sprite. ‘Punk’ and ‘cute’ are the easiest ways to define the two, with cute Giana able to spin and float for long distances, whilst the punk version has a handy firebomb attack that feels a lot like something from Sonic. There are some puzzles within the platforming that mainly involve some box pushing and good timing, and despite the fact that there’s nothing overly new in the tight mechanics, the difficulty ensures that you’ll be swiftly hooked into the game.
Things start off easy, but quickly ratchet up to a point where you’ll be having some strong words with your PC. The controls and mechanics are crucially very strong, meaning that any frustration felt is 99% of the time down to your own abject failure as a gamer. Twisted Dreams can get a little to close to crossing the line into the territory of ridiculous precision, but the challenge is a welcome one and something to be expected from truly quality platformers these days.
The main unique selling point here is the flicking between worlds, which allows for some creativity with platforms that only move or exist in one layer but not the other, and collectible gems that follow the same rule. These elements become all the more fun to master if you choose to go beyond story mode and dive into time attack, which easily adds a dose of longeivity to a game that is a little average in length.
Audio & Visual
Platformers are the last bastion of toon style graphics, and Twisted Dreams is no exception. Bright colours and bold design are both at play, and even if there is nothing particularly startling on show it is all at least pulled off with a high level of technical polish. Of course the two dreams have very distinct styles, with the ‘cute’ Giana experiencing the horrors of goblin enemies, skeletons and the like, whereas the ‘punk’ Giana finds her nightmare/dream in traveling through a picturesque fantasy land with slightly obese owls. It’s cute, bright, and doesn’t get in the way of gameplay.
Whilst Twisted Dreams has a colorful and appealing style, the main highlight for the game graphically is the smoothness with which it switches between the two styles of dream. Not a single hiccup was experienced flicking between the two, and the creativity that has gone into these dual levels is fantastic. The push of a button warps the entire stage so smoothly that you’ll quickly forget what a great trick it is. And it’s not just the visuals, the music too, changes at the push of a button. The soundtrack on a whole is excellent, with music provided by composer Chris Hulsbeck and heavy metal band Machinae Prophecy. The tunes certainly provide a change from the norm, and they too change seamlessly with the changing levels.
Overall
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams is certainly a quality effort. It has challenge, personality and tight mechanics to make it an addictive little platformer, and the dual world design gives it a point of difference to help it stand out from the crowd. The difficulty curve may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but to those seeking a decent dose of old school platforming with a twist of heavy metal music, then this is a good place to start, and a fairly unique one to boot.
Today Tecmo Koei launched the official website for the previously announced Dynasty Warriors 8. As you may know, the game is currently a PlayStation 3 exclusive and set for release sometime in Japan in 2013 with no Western release confirmed at this point.
Now the site itself is only in Japanese however it does feature some character information, various features as well as a page full of screenshots. We’ve gathered the screenshots below and as you can see Dynasty Warriors 8 looks like it is going to take a significant jump in visual quality, at least as far as playable characters go. Expect more information over the next few weeks.
Castlevania: Lord of Shadows – Mirror of Fate, the first Nintendo 3DS title in the franchise, has a new trailer to celebrate the spirit of Halloween. The new trailer shows off some new gameplay features and in game footage, showcasing the two playable characters, both of whom are part of the legendary Belmont bloodline: Simon and Trevor Belmont. Mirror of Fate is part of the reboot of the franchise.
Castlevania: Lord of Shadows – Mirror of Fate tells the story of Simon and Trevor Belmont (voiced by Alec Newman and Richard Madden respectively), both descendants of Gabriel Belmont (voiced by Robert Carlyle). Gabriel has returned as a powerful vampire called Dracula, threatening to destroy the brotherhood and anyone who stands against him. Gabriel was also revealed to be the prince of darkness in the original Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, and an all-new prologue level allows users to control Gabriel once again before his transformation.
Castlevania: Lord of Shadows – Mirror of Fate takes place 25 years after Lord of Shadows and is a precursor to the highly anticipated Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 for the PlayStation3 , Xbox 360 and PC. Expect Mirror of Fate to hit stores in early 2013. The trailer can be seen below.
If you enjoy singing along with your games and have a Wii, you are in luck as Konami have now released Karaoke Joysound to the masses. Made famous in Japan, this title lets players not only have access to a huge song library, but customize their avatars and play mini-games.
Here is a bit more information from the publisher themselves:
Karaoke Joysound brings out the inner crooner, boasting over 30 songs across all genres available on the disc. From there, players maximize their karaoke experience by accessing Karaoke Joysound ‘s music streaming service online via their Wii internet connection. Users can “rent” the entire music library for a day, three days or even a month at a time. With over 1,000 songs in the music library, Karaoke Joysound is perfect for parties, family get-togethers or the aspiring singer to hone in on their skills.
Karaoke Joysound ‘s on-disc music list includes chart-topping songs of today and hits from the past, including song renditions such as:
SONGS – MADE FAMOUS BY: Material Girl – Madonna Womanizer – Britney Spears It’s Raining Men – The Weather Girls One Less Lonely Girl – Justin Bieber Get Back – Demi Lovato All Star – Smash Mouth Celebration – Kool & The Gang
In addition to one of the largest song libraries on Wii, Karaoke Joysound also allows players to enjoy extensive customizations across the game. These features give players an additional level of individuality as in-game points are awarded as currency, so the better the performance, the more points players accumulate to spend on customizing everything from personal aesthetics (hair, outfits, etc) to stages and backgrounds.
I don’t know how I feel about “renting” a song for a game, but this concept is certainly unique and should attract that casual music loving audience quite quickly. You can find Karaoke Joysound on the Wii as of today.
Sleeping Dogs proved to be quite a hit when it released over the summer, and now even more content has been delivered for the critically praised title. Nightmare in North Point places our protagonist in a brand new chapter, with Wei Shen now up against Ghosts and Triads.
Here are some more details about the expanded story within:
In life, Big Scar Wu was one of Hong Kong’s most ruthless triad gangsters. Feared as much by those who stood against him as those who stood by him in the Sun On Yee, it was decided by the Grand Dragon that he must be stopped. Looking to send a message, they had him stabbed 42 times before feeding his bleeding corpse to the grinder at the Smiley Cat cat food plant… his final resting place, in the food bowls of the city’s pet cats. It is said that if the wronged receive anything less than a proper burial, their spirit will almost certainly come back as a Hungry Ghost, damned to starve in the afterlife, feeding only on their hatred. You turn him into cat food and that’s pretty much guaranteed.
Now, Hell has a sense of humour, and when Big Scar Wu arrived in the underworld and word spread of his demise, they renamed him Smiley Cat, much to his chagrin, with the name fuelling his bitterness with every utterance and driving his thirst for revenge. Rising from Hell and vowing to exact his revenge, Smiley Cat has raised an army of Jiang Shi, vowing to destroy the Sun On Yee and to create Hong Kong’s most fearsome criminal empire.
With the city in chaos and its citizens possessed, Wei Shen now faces a challenge far more sinister than any before. To save Hong Kong, he must seek out the most powerful of Chinese magic, endowing him with a power strong enough to take on Smiley Cat’s army of Jiang Shi and face-off against the ghosts of Triads he has defeated in the past, sending the dead back to Hell once and for all.
Priced at 560 Microsoft Points (US $6.99, AUD $9.25, NZD $10.50), you can now download Nightmare in North Point as of today on the XBLA, PSN, and Steam. Check out the new trailer down below.
Ragnarok Odyssey Developer:GungHo Online Entertainment Publisher: XSEED Games Platform:PlayStation Vita Release Date: October 30, 2012 Price: $39.99 – Available Here
Overview: Since the PlayStation Vita was released there have been a slew of different titles released for it. Some of them have been good, most of them have been bad and a few of them can be used as a selling point for Sony’s brand new handheld. Now one thing the handheld has been sorely lacking since release is a new RPG worthy of purchase in the West, while Japanese gamers have had a number of RPGs to experience and one such game is Ragnarok Odyssey. Now that XSEED Games has brought Ragnarok Odyssey over to North America, is it worth your time?
Story: Ragnarok Odyssey pulls on some large pieces of Norse mythology throughout its story and players will step into the role of a new recruit who has joined the fight against giant creatures which have come from across the mountain ranges of Rune Midgard and the people must now fight for their survival against these powerful foes.
As some of you may know, Ragnarok Odyssey is an adventure game based off of the popular Ragnarok Online MMO but do not worry if you happen to have zero knowledge of the game, as Ragnarok Odyssey’s storyline is relatively light in content and players will often go many missions fighting against various creatures without seeing any actual story progression and even then the details about the game’s story is only present through optional NPC dialogue, so people can simply ignore the story entirely if they choose to.
Visuals: While many games can claim that they have some of the best visuals on a platform let’s just lay it out on the table now. Ragnarok Odyssey is by far the best looking Vita game that I have played to date. The entire game just oozes with charm as the game’s cartoonish atmosphere lends itself well to the art style. Enemies may go through a few palette swaps but they are gorgeous on screen while you fight through a number of different environments.
All of this is made the better thanks to a wide-ranging palette full of vibrant and varying colors and impressive character animations. It is worth noting that Ragnarok Online fans will easily be able to recognize some of the signature monsters from the game, though a few have received some design changes and a number of original creatures have been added in as well. There are even numerous cosmetic headgears that can be crafted that fans of the franchise will adore and normal players can aim for as a way to make their character more unique.
Audio: As players make their way through the various missions in Ragnarok Odyssey it is impossible to not notice how superb the title’s background music is. There are a wide-array of songs that will play whenever you are going through a mission and in fact, you can even purchase these songs form an in-game store using basic money. These tracks can then be applied to any quest you feel like, so if you happen to find a specific background music that you love, then you can listen to it as many times as you wish.
While there is no actual English dialogue in the game XSEED has provided a large number of character voices for the player to choose from as they are creating their character. These voices all have various ranges and provide a certain attitude for your character that is usually portrayed in combat via receiving and delivering damage as well as some in-game poses you can have your character perform.
Gameplay:
One of the first things that players must do once they start up Ragnarok Odyssey is create a character. Fans of customization will be happy to hear that there are 19 different hair styles to choose from, which can then be colored any color you wish as the entire color spectrum is at your disposal, as well as 18 different faces for both males and females. Players can then choose one of six different character classes to choose from which will provide them with their initial starting equipment and outfit.
These classes all have various strengths and weaknesses and each of these are shown off thanks to a handy chart that shows attack speed, strength, defense and health. Though it is worth noting that if you were to choose an assassin class, you cannot use long swords or mage staffs, instead you are restricted to one type of weapon only. If you do end up growing tired with the class you are playing it is worth noting that players do have the option to change their class at will shortly into the game.
Players will make their way through the game by selecting various missions from the guild hall in the Fort Hub and each of these missions are rather straightforward. Players must either venture out to kill a certain number of creatures or gather a certain number of items, usually dropped from a specific enemy or from boxes/barrels in the area. It is also interesting to note that these missions are given half-hour time limits and if you cannot finish the mission in time or are knocked out three times, you will fail.
It is interesting to note that failing a mission is of little consequence however as it can be restarted anytime you choose to and you will still be able to keep all of the various loot drops you obtained in the fight before you failed. This system is rather interesting as it provides challenge while not punishing a player for being unfamiliar with enemies. Older levels can be replayed as many times as you wish, meaning that you can also farm for equipment or items as much as necessary.
As you venture out onto a mission you will be presented a specific map for that mission which is then made up of smaller maps that will be populated by creatures of all different kinds. These enemies will drop various objects such as crafting material, weaponry and cards which I will go over more momentarily.
Combat within Ragnarok Odyssey is rather straightforward as players will be able to use the triangle button to perform basic combo attacks while the circle button can perform stronger, stunning attacks that vary depending on when you execute them. It is also worth noting that players also have the ability to dash both on the ground and in the air via the square button. This dash mechanic is almost essential for fighting most of the creatures in Ragnarok Odyssey as players can easily use dashes to strike at an enemy then retreat before they can retaliate.
Now it may sound like Ragnarok Odyssey is simply a hack and slash title and in a way you would be right in a way, but also incorrect. While Ragnarok Odyssey can be a rather mundane title early on, the amount of creatures and the attacks you can unleash upon them quickly make the game into one full of high-hitting combos that can launch enemies into the air or across the room. In fact there are even occasions where you are surrounded by enemies and you must defeat a certain amount to escape, making for some intense combat situations.
However it is far from an easy game as the title features a rather interesting leveling system. Or perhaps it would be better to describe it as a lack of a leveling system. The only way to make your character stronger is to find better weaponry or cards dropped from enemies or by finishing a chapter in the story which will automatically increase your character’s health. Players can refine their weaponry using items dropped from monsters and increase their attack while cards provide a number of different bonuses. These cards can be equipped to the player’s costume, with eight cards fitting into a fully upgraded outfit. These cards can add elemental properties to your attacks, increase the length of your dash, increase your attack, increase your defense and much more.
Although this card and refinement system is a rather unique take on character upgrades, it does feel like the lack of a leveling system can hold you back at times. There are times that you can come across a rather difficult opponent that halts your progress in the game completely. This then means that you will either need to find some cards to improve your health, attempt a class change or tackle the quest in multiplayer.
Thankfully Ragnarok Odyssey’s multiplayer system is absolutely a blast to play. Players can play either locally through ad hoc or through Wi-Fi in the game’s Tavern. Up to four players can team up at any given time and the matchmaking system is easy to understand. Players can either choose to search for specific rooms or select from a list of existing rooms. As you join a group, each one has a leader that will select a mission for the group to tackle, though it is worth noting that selectable missions are limited by story progression.
As mentioned before, Ragnarok Odyssey is at it’s best in multiplayer. Four player action is fast paced and highly addictive with smooth gameplay throughout nearly every match. The only time it seems to slow down is when someone leaves in the middle of a mission. Although there is no voice chat in the game, XSEED has provided a number of pre-set emoticons, though there is an in-game keyboard if you have something specific to say.
Now, being on the PlayStation Vita, there are a number of touch controls implemented into Ragnarok Odyssey as well. However you should not be concerned with this fact as the only mechanics delegated to the touch screen is the use of potions and various player interactions. These potions can be used to provide health, clear status effects or boost stats and by including them on the system’s touch screen it makes them easy to use in times of desperation.
Overall: Ragnarok Odyssey is a title that should be on the must-have list for every PlayStation Vita out there as it not only provides addictive fast-paced action, but it also capitalizes on the fact that the Vita is a portable device with most quests only taking around five minutes or so to finish. While it may have some issues with level progression and grinding, the game’s enjoyable combat, stellar multiplayer and tons of content, those who pick up Ragnarok Odyssey will find it a hard game to put down.
Yesterday we broke the story that Star Wars Episode VII has been given a release date. While we rejoiced in the news, we quickly started speculating on what the story would be. There is so much material set after Return of the Jedi that we assumed it would be one of those story arcs. Grand Admiral Thrawn? Warlord Zsinj? The Legacy Era?
But a souce in Lucasfilm has revealed the story will be completely original and will not draw source material from After-Jedi era. So in terms of story, your guess is as good as mine. Surely they will have an old Master Skywalker leading a new generation of Jedi Knights. Let the speculation begin.
These days we seem to be getting a bevy of ‘reimaginings’ of old fairy tales. They try to be darker than the originals (though if you’ve ever read the actual Grimm stories you know that this is pretty hard to manage. The latest of these reimaginings is Hansel and Gretel, which starts off pretty dark to begin with (two children are lured into the woods to die by parents who can’t feed them, witch finds them and fattens them up to eat, and then they burn her in the oven, yeah you can’t sugar coat that).
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters starts the same way, but continues the story under the idea that Hansel and Gretel then developed a taste for hunting witches and are now badass adults doing it. It’s got a bit of a Van Helsing feel, with the old school weapons that are also quite modern looking, but it does generally look like it will actually kick ass.
With Jeremey Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen and Peter Stormare, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters will be at least a fun romp with some kickass action scenes and special effects.
Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think! For more movie news and reviews make sure to check out our movie section HERE!
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton is set for a release date of February 7 2013.
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters – Official Australian Trailer
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters – Official Red Band Trailer
Konami has announced that there will be an Australian and European Limited Edition preorder for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. The Limited Edition will include a 30cm figurine of White Armour Raiden, along with a special DLC that allows you to access White Armour Raiden in the game (which will also increase your capacity to carry life-recovery items).
Along with White Armour Raiden there is a choice of steelbook covers and unique DLC. The first cover is an illustration of Raiden by Yoji Shinkawa, the concept artist and DLV that unlocks Inferno Armour. The second is a render of Raiden and has the DLC code for Commando Armour. Either way, they both sound awesome and it certainly looks like it’s worth going in to put a preorder down on Metal Gear Rising if you’re keen on it.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance marks the return of Raiden, who must stop the renegade private military company, by using his ‘High Frequency’ blade and skills. Thanks to an awesome blade there are some truly fantastic action sequences, and I’m sure a lot of you will enjoy being able to play as Raiden again.
To pre-order Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance simply head to your local EB Games or JB Hi-fi and put down a deposit! What are you waiting for?
