To celebrate the upcoming November release of Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, Disney have given us all two new video vignettes, in which the game’s designer – Warren Spector – leads us through an introduction and overview of the Paint and Thinner mechanic, and the second playable character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
The following is the Paint and Thinner vignette. For those who are familiar with Epic Mickey, they will recognise these core abilities.
And this is the Oswald vignette. Though he was not playable in the first game, Oswald will be available for a second player to take control of in drop-in, drop-out co-op. When playing in single-player, Oswald will be controlled by the CPU.
Beyond showing you these new vignettes, we’d also like to let you know about a couple Australia-exclusive pre-order offers. If you pre-order the game at EB Games, you will receive a 40cm tall Oswald the Lucky Rabbit plush toy, which is otherwise not for sale anywhere! If that doesn’t paint your canvas, pre-ordering at JB Hi-Fi will get you a bonus 260 page hardback comic collection – the 1st volume in Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse Classic Comic Collection!! Releasing on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U, PC and Mac; pre-order now!
Silent Hill: Book of Memories Developer: WayForward Publisher: Konami Platform:PlayStation Vita Release:October 16, 2012 Price: $39.99 –Available Here
Overview: There are a number of franchises out there that gamers hold close to their hearts. As such, anytime someone wants to make a change to such a beloved franchise, some of these gamers will lash out with venom and rage at these changes. Such was the case with Konami’s latest spin-off game in the Silent Hill franchise, Silent Hill: Book of Memories. Konami has described the title as a “co-operative multiplayer action RPG” which is quite a departure from what most fans are used to. Now is this departure successful for the company? Let’s find out.
Story: When you begin your game you are given a choice of creating a male or female character. After creation, you find your character living in a rather standard apartment just before they receive a package from Silent Hill Downpours’ Howard the Mailman. In this package you find a strange looking book that appears to be very old.
As you read through this book, your character realizes that many events from your life are detailed in the book in great detail. Now what would happen if you were to go back and change what is written in the book? Well it turns out doing so pulls the player into a nightmarish realm where actions made within the realm can affect the real world.
The storyline for Silent Hill: Book of Memories is rather intriguing at first, but ultimately a bit bland as far as development or even twists go. There are a few different endings which can be obtained though, so there is a decent amount of replay value within the many stages of the Book of Memories, though you may not want to venture down the rabbit hole many times as I will mention momentarily.
Visuals: Surprisingly, Silent Hill: Book of Memories is a gorgeous title on the PlayStation Vita, especially during the game’s few cutscenes. The characters you play as can be customized enough that you will be hard pressed to find another player using the same exact design as yours, while the environments fit the Silent Hill theme nicely with there being a decent amount of variety in the appearance of the dungeons you explore.
One thing worth noting, especially for fans of the Silent Hill franchise, is how gorgeous the monsters are presented in the game. While the camera angle may not provide the best look at some of these creatures, fans will be able to pick out the numerous monsters used from the Silent Hill franchise as they take them on. That being said, the game has some absolutely terrible load times for a portable game, with a few load times being as long as a minute.
Audio: Konami has tried to do a decent job with voicing the few characters present in the Book of Memories, though the voice work is hit and miss at best, with in-game dialogue usually sounding alright and considering the only way to communicate with each other is through canned expressions you may hear these a lot during multiplayer, while anything presented in a cut-scene is usually of lower quality.
That being said, Book of Memories does a great job presenting a spooky atmosphere through creepy noises and sound effects. As you battle against nightmarish creatures they’ll cry out when killed and make other noises as you fight against them, making battles against larger groups of enemies an interesting affair.
Gameplay: Interestingly enough, Silent Hill: Book of Memories is at its heart a dungeon crawling hack and slash title. Every stage that a player enters is made up of a number of rooms that are connected to one another in a maze-like design. There are various rooms in each stage which serve as a shop, a save room, a treasure room, Karma rooms which have vague puzzles in them and more.
However you will mostly encounter rooms full of monsters or various “challenge orbs” which will provide a challenge against enemies that appear. These challenges must be completed as they will provide a puzzle piece, of which there can be up to six pieces or more, that have to be collected and then used to solve a puzzle that will allow them to exit and finish a stage. These ending puzzles are usually very basic, involving arranging items in a certain order that players can find a hint for in the stage itself.
Killing various enemies of course requires combat and in Book of Memories fighting is a rather standard thing. Players need to simply push the attack button for either their left or right hand and it will use the weapon in the chosen hand. In the case of two-handed weaponry, either attack button will suffice. Players can block or dodge in combat, but the animations for doing so are rather rigid and slow to activate, meaning you will take damage more often than not.
Book of Memories features a weapon durability system which serves to make combat more difficult as you will need to monitor the quality of your weapon to avoid it shattering in a desperate battle. These weapons can be repaired by using a wrench, one of a few consumable items in the game, but they still become damaged very quickly. Even rarer weapons can become useless very fast thanks to the low durability of every weapon in the game.
It is worth noting that thanks to the PlayStation Vita’s touch control scheme, players will be able to pick up things, switch weapons, use items and more perform various other things with a simple touch of the screen. This system works quite well and in fact, the player can also use special “Karma” powers via the rear touch pad.
Now Karma is a meter that slides towards either “Blood” or “Light” and picking up the ashes of defeated enemies will swing your Karma meter in one way or the other. There are a number of different benefits from having a Karma bar closer to one end of the spectrum; such as dealing more damage to enemies on the other side as well as performing various spells. Light magic drains the health from enemies, applying it to either the player and at higher levels, the whole team, while Blood magic unleashes high damaging attacks on enemies, all through the use of the rear touch pad.
Now earlier I mentioned that players may be hesitant to enter the game more than once and there is a good reason for that. The level design in Book of Memories is absolutely terrible. While it is nice how each place is similar to a maze and each level has a different layout, there are absolutely no shortcuts or rooms connected to more than two other doors. This means that you will be doing a ridiculous amount of backtracking and the only way to save is to find one of the randomly placed save levels. If you were to die without reaching the save room, you will have to start the entire level over again and in later stages that can take up to forty-five minutes to complete, mostly thanks to constant backtracking, this is absolutely brutal.
It is worth noting that at earlier levels Book of Memories may appear relatively easy, however the difficulty quickly ramps up, forcing players to return to older stages and grind for money that can be used on storage upgrades or stronger weapons and grind XP for level ups. This wouldn’t be too much of an issue if it wasn’t for the numerous traps hidden in later stages, such as a slowdown trap which cripples every action the player makes, leaving them a prime target for murder. This is only one of the many ways that Konami appears to have added instant-kill areas, padding the game’s length on-top of the incessant backtracking.
Now a few of these issues are relived in the game’s multiplayer mode. In Book of Memories players can venture into a stage with three other people and fighting enemies always seems easier with a team of four. It also helps that the immediate failure upon death is removed when playing with multiple people, as a death will simply result in the player dropping all held items. The multiplayer worked quite well and I actually experienced almost no lag with the various teams I fought with.
Overall: Despite its drawbacks, Silent Hill: Book of Memories is an absolute joy to play. Whenever you are with a large group of people or experiencing one of the better designed levels, there are signs of a brilliant game here. In fact, the game is Silent Hill fan service at its best as it features multiple enemies throughout the series, buffing items which used to be collected for puzzles in past games and more. However it is held back by some by terribly high levels of backtracking and cheap artificial difficulty.
So just like many things in the Silent Hill world, Book of Memories is a great dungeon crawling experience, twisted by questionable design into something that may infuriate more players than make them enjoy their time with it.
Little by little, information is finally starting to surface for the new Wreck-It Ralph video game adaptation, due out on the DS, 3DS, and Wii on December 5th. Today, some new concept art was released that displays the very foes players will battle against.
Cy-bugs are the main antagonist within the game, and come in all shapes and forms, with the queen and her deadly tentacles of doom being the most dangerous of the lot. Based on the art – which you can see below, this should be an interesting enemy and hopefully there will be some nice gameplay to match the designs.
You know, after seeing Beyonce promote the Nintendo DS’ early line-up, I find it intriguing that Nintendo are still able to land the most non-gamer like celebrities to promote their games. It’s a great marketing plan to further audiences, and with such a game like Professor Layton, that is certainly a good thing.
Today, a new trailer of sorts was released for Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, featuring the lovely Penélope Cruz playing the game. Believe it or not, the clip is entertaining and rather enjoyable, so check that out below. Of course you should also know that Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask will be in stores and available via Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL on October 27th.
What is a Nutty Fluffy? Well, it involves little animals, collecting hearts, and a roller coaster. Today, Ubisoft released a new trailer for their upcoming iOS title by the name of Nutty Fluffies, which is due out on the App Store on November 1st.
Yes, it looks quite charming, and for fans of collection/score based titles, a must have due to the obviously high amount of quality that went into the finished product. To get a better look, check out the trailer down below and stay tuned, as there is sure to be even more information on these fluffies as the release date draws closer.
This week on the Nintendo Download circuit, Liberation Maiden has made it’s debut on the 3DS. For those unfamiliar, this title is a beautiful 3D bullet-hell, where players take the role of Shoko Ozora and chain together kills while progressing an engrossing plot. For $7.99, it also is a good value for the coin.
For $9.99, Nightsky is also available on the eShop, and lets the player tackle environmental puzzles in a stunning, night-lit world. Those wanting something a little more familiar are in luck as well, as the NES version of Ghosts’n Goblinshas hit the handheld’s virtual console for $4.99, with Castlevania: The Adventure making it’s debut as a Game Boy Classic for $3.99.
18th Gate is a strategy based dungeon crawler that shows a lot of promise, and has hit the DSiWare service for $4.99. Wii owners also have some loving as well with Shock Troopers blasting onto the Virtual Console for 900 points.
Phew! A lot of great games are up for grabs this week. So the question remains, what will you be downloading?
When we last wrote about Italian developer, Playstos Entertainment, they had just announced Real World Racing, RWR, way back in August. Well now it’s been a few months and in that time they’ve shown off a bit more of their work in trailers and screenshots, though new details are less abundant but still there. Obviously trailers are generally the best demonstration of what they have so far, so check out the Official Trailer below.
Those looking for a bit more content can find a few more trailers and screenshots on RWR‘s Steam Greenlight page HERE. Speaking of which after you get done checking out those trailers, don’t forget to vote on whether you’d like to see RWR make the Greenlight cut and become available through Steam. As a new take on racing in real locations, it deserves a look at the very least.
New information that’s been released about the game, to match the previously known 80 cars to race, 3D graphics, and extensive career mode, includes 50+ tracks across famous cities, up to 16 person multiplayer online, and precise simulation in terms of both real-world physics and car performance.
For even more details, screenshots, and information be sure to check out the Real World Racing website HERE.
The premiere of Emily Owens, M.D. wasn’t terribly promising, in the way that it was a far more awkward and neurotic version of Grey’s Anatomy. The first scene of the second episode takes this awkwardness to a whole new level as Emily has to deal with the fact that she revealed her feelings to Will last week.
Kicking off the episode by saying “Hey Willie!” in front of a whole bunch of people, most of which don’t like her, it was clear this was going to bring some cringes out.
I know a few males who like Grey’s Anatomy, some who love it, but I don’t see any guys liking this show. It’s squarely aimed at women, or teenage girls who have yet to gotten control of their awkward stage.
Most of the episode is Emily dealing with Will shooting her down and trying to move on with it. Again, Emily’s looks are insulted, which is like when Tina Fey pretends she’s ugly. Just completely ridiculous.
It turns out two years ago Will left her a message when he was drunk telling her that they should date, but it was never brought up again. So instead Emily just nursed it in her heart until it turned into a huge, embarrassing crush. She tells Will she’s over him and pretends she has a crush on Resident Micah, but later admits that it was a lie and they share a nice conversation on the roof. I have to admit, after their conversation I like their relationship with each other a lot more, but only as a friendship. At the end of the episode it’s revealed that she kept the message (of course she did) and she deletes it, only to end up calling up her phone provider and begging them to return it. Sigh.
In situations that don’t involve Will, or her interaction with people who intimidate her, Emily is not nearly as annoying. But get her in a place with the Chief of Staff, her arch-enemy Cassandra, and the nurses, and she flips out.
The nurses are another big part of the story, after her hitting on one of them last week to figure out if she was gay, the nurses think that she’s a shark. Which is the complete opposite of what she is, but they aren’t too bothered with that detail.
Micah and Emily flirt a bit in the episode, though she remains clueless to his obvious feelings for her, and when she spends her free time sitting with his mother who is receiving chemo, he has this look on his face that screams his feelings for her. At least Emily doesn’t overthink everything had happens when they’re together, which is a nice change from her obsessiveness with Will.
The patients in the episode are an older man with heart issues, and a young woman with OCD. The theme of their cases is ‘beating the odds’, which results in the older man fighting and making it through an open heart surgery despite his advanced age and declining health, while the younger woman doesn’t make it through what is meant to be a simple brain surgery.
Hopefully Emily Owens, M.D. can start to move past the more cringeworthy of scenes and more towards the inclusion of other characters, the pairing of Emily with someone who doesn’t cause her to go crazy and neurotic, and sets itself apart a bit more. The acting skill has the possibility to do so much more, and hopefully it starts to do that.
Check out the rest of our TV show coverage including news, reviews and recaps right HERE.
Last week’s episode of Suburgatory didn’t impress me too much, it was over the top but not in the same way that I loved Suburgatory for. Thankfully, the second episode ‘The Witch of East Chatswin’ was a return to form for the show.
It was a Halloween episode, and like last year’s Halloween episode, involved some scares and some misinterpretation where something is wrongfully labeled supernatural when it isn’t. Another reason why this is great? Tessa, Lisa, Ryan and Malik dress up as the Scooby Gang (with Ryan and Malik both going as Fred), which is infamous for their discovery that pretty much everything supernatural has some explainable reason for it. And that’s why this episode worked – it had crazy weird stuff but it tempered it well with reality. The humour was still out there, but in a very aware sort of way.
I mean, having a feminist portrayed as a witch in Chatswin? Totally great. And Lisa’s line about her moving the Ouija board pointer because the spirits move through her? Brilliant.
On the adult side of things, Noah turns up dressed as George and attempts to impersonate him, which sounds more like the cookie monster, so George dresses up as Noah in turn. Part of dressing up as Noah requires George to shave his goatee, a very painful process for him, and one that leaves him looking very un-George-like. His face is baby smooth and it looks naked. At the end of the episode Dallas and George finally stop the will-they-won’t-they when George realizes that she would be interested in more and tackles it head on like an adult and asks her out. That’ll be interesting to watch, it’s been a while coming and we’ll have to see if actually doing it fizzles out their chemistry or makes it grow stronger.
Suburgatory has definitely made a return to their first season form, and I’m glad that they’ve added that sarcastic, raised-eyebrow tone to the craziness of Chatswin.
Check out the rest of our TV show coverage including news, reviews and recaps right HERE.
Majesco released their latest game to the iTunes App Store and Google Play today. “Legends of Loot is a fast-paced, fun – and funny – adventure game,” said Jeffrey Anderson, senior vice president of social and mobile games, Majesco Entertainment. “Players will experience the same kind of robust content and dynamic action they’ll find in any Majesco title, but with the on-the-go accessibility of a mobile game.”
The game is a first person RPG dungeon crawler with bright cartoony graphics that makes use of the touch screen and accelerometer for in game actions. Players will need to navigate almost a hundred dangerous mazes riddled with traps and puzzles to save the day from evil dragon overlords. The game has an in game calendar for tracking the game progress of your closest friends or enemies and leaderboards with the OpenFeint network.
Legends of Loot is free to play and is available for iOS devices hereand Android devices here.
