Anyone who is well versed in the Hitman franchise will know that Agent 47 just loves playing dress up while he is on an assassination mission. While we’ve already known that disguises will be returning in Hitman Absolution Square Enix has released a trailer today showing off some of the disguises in the game as well as how they will work.
As you can see in the video below, these disguises range from your mundane police officer outfit to a chicken suit, scarecrow outfit and even a chipmunk. Still, it certainly is strange that no one seems to think it strange that a noticeably bald man with a band-aid barely covering a tattoo on his head suddenly is a member of the police or staff.
Nights into Dreams Developer: Sega Publisher: Sega Platform: Xbox Live Arcade (Reviewed), Playstation Network Release Date: October 5, 2012 Price: 800 Points ($9.99) – BUY NOW
Overview
Sega have released a lot of cult classics, but NiGHTS may be the most under-rated gem that was ever birthed by the famed publisher. Taking the role of a small but charming little jester and two children, aerobatics take the starring role of Nights into Dreams as players attempt to fly through rings and snag up every sphere in sight. Oh yes, there is more – but those of you who have experienced the original Saturn version or one of the latter ports know already what a unique experience this game can be. Sega have went ahead and released the full version of the original yet again on the Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network, with a lot of extra features in tow and a shiny coat of HD paint. Has this journey into dreams became a nightmare, or is it the soothing slumber so many recall trekking through over sixteen years ago?
Story
The story in Nights is pretty basic for the most part, but could certainly have a deeper meaning based on one’s own perception. Players take the roles of Claris and Elliot, who are both going through the kind of dilemmas children typically have when they get whisked into the beautiful dream world of Nightopia. Nightopia is having some trouble at the moment however, as Wizeman the Wicked is stealing the power of dreams to rule the land, with an eventual plot to take the world shortly after. After partnering up with a poppy little jester named Nights, these two kids set out on a journey to save both worlds while solving their own personal problems.
Much like many modern successes like Bastion and Lost in Shadow, Nights relies on telling it’s story through a child’s eyes. The Dream world is full of all sorts of color, magic, and amplified fears, which do wonders in bringing this across. I know this story sounds a bit meager, but the innocence of youth is a powerful tool – and one that can tell a beautiful tale if utilized correctly based on design. Thankfully, Nights puts together one endearing narrative that still feels relevant by today’s standards, and is sure to be a slightly moving experience for anyone going in looking for a bit of nostalgia.
Gameplay
I’ll be honest, before this review, I played very little Nights. I knew of it, respected the brand, and loved seeing the many cameos in other Sega titles – but never quite got around to sitting down and actually playing it. Ten minutes in to this HD remake, I found myself flying through rings with Nights and controlling a bumbling kid from time to time, utterly confused of just what to do. Yes, I was lost. After a little more time and practice, the objectives soon became quite clear and the true magic of this title started to shine through.
Each time you start a level, you start out as either Claris or Elliot, based on whichever kid you choose. After coming in contact with Nights, you will then take to the skies as the jester in a rather side-scrolling fashion, passing through rings and collecting blue orbs as you progress. The goal is to simply collect 20 of these orbs before the timer gets to zero, or Nights will lose all of it’s orbs and the player will return to child form and have to start from scratch yet again. Flying through rings gains points, which can be used to get a better rank on each stage. Combos in acrobatics can also be pulled off as well, giving an incentive to take advantage of all of Nights flashy aerial maneuvers.
Every stage has a set number of sections that need to be played in succession. For instance, once you finish gathering 20 orbs and delivering them to the ranking point, you start the next “Mare” instantly, gathering more orbs. After all of the Mares for a stage are complete, a boss battle takes place where the player must use their dodging skills and handy dash to defeat a large and menacing foe. Now, boss battles are all rather simple in concept, but have to be approached in a certain fashion in order to see victory. I went in knowing nothing for my first battle, and I was quickly thwomped to death by a large, screeching obese ball-woman. The trick was to simply latch onto her front side though, and toss her to a further portion of the stage until she met her end. Most battles work in this way, but never play the same so the player always a feeling of unease – and for this game, that is a good thing.
As for the controls, for the most part, everything is very fluid and has held up exceptionally well. When Nights into Dreams delivered on the Saturn, a special controller was also released that featured an analog stick. It seems that design choice was a clever move, as 16 years later this title proves it’s worth by fully utilizing that stick we take for granted these days due to it’s common place in gaming. The simple joys of flying are sure to make any player feel free and pulling off loops and the other acrobatics while passing through rings is made so easy that even a novice player will be able to quickly learning how to rack up some decent combos. As for the kids…well, that is another story.
The player will take control of Claris or Elliot at the start of a stage or if Nights fails. If it’s for the latter, a large clock-like monster will begin chasing the children while they hustle to the nearest orb drop-off. If caught, the game ends. It’s an interesting dynamic, but one that suffers from poor controls and awkward movement. Its one thing to go from taking to the air with Nights to playing as a child on the ground in a 3D plain, but it’s a whole different feeling of frustration when that kid controls like a horse without two front legs. To the game’s defense, I want to say that this feels intentional. It’s not fun to play as the children and the first instinct of any human would be to run back to their enjoyment (Nights, in this case). Once enough orbs are re-collected and Nights is unlocked yet again, the player can resume the game and go back to their happy, flying ways. It’s that level of tension that adds in extra excitement to the experience, and just makes Nights more rewarding as a whole. Yeah, the kid’s controls are pretty terrible, but passable when you think about the odd reasoning behind it.
It wouldn’t be a Sega HD remake without a lot of extra features and goodies for fans of the original. While playing, you can collect movies, gallery photos, and sound clips from the game which can all be viewed at any given time afterwards. If the Sega Saturn version is more your thing, you’re also in luck as it’s also available in all of it’s downgraded glory. Christmas Nights is also unlockable, and with leaderboards and the score ranking process already jammed in, there is a good chance you will be playing this classic for a good chunk of time due to how addictive the formula still is.
Visuals and Audio
Compared to the original Saturn release, the “Brand new Nights” has clearly been upgraded through visuals, and looks much smoother and brighter due to the HD coat of paint. All animations never miss a beat either, and just one spin through the older version will show the player just how much love this HD version received due to the 2D sprites and graphical shortcuts that developers used long ago to portray 3D models. It also helps that every stage is already built like a living, breathing art piece.
The soundtrack of the game is honestly the sweetest part of this whole dish, as every tune is soothing to an extent and does a great job at capturing the dream-like atmosphere. Many of you probably have heard this legendary collection of tunes before in one form or another, but when you’re actually playing the game with the beats included, it makes the entire experience absolutely mesmerizing. The little chimes from special techniques and menacing sound of an approaching clock add a lot to the full monty as well, tying everything together nicely while keeping the game feeling fresh throughout.
Overall
Nights into Dreams is a magical little game, full of everything a child holds dear to them. The graphics are bright, colorful, and often quite out there at times, but for a game all about dreams – well…that is the point. It’s always a good feeling to go through an older title that you haven’t played and enjoy everything on display, and I did just that with my own time with Nights. Not only I can I now easily recommend the game to anyone out there looking for something odd yet bizarrely charming, I can also say that Sega have did a fantastic job at bringing this beloved – yet under-appreciated mascot to a new generation of dreamers.
Back in September we wrote about the guys at work trying to kick-finish a PvP MMO-style multiplayer game called Forge, as the game was already near completion, but they were hoping to put more into it. Well, the time for the kick-finish has come and gone and while they weren’t able to meet the goal they had set, they urged those potential backers to at least pre-order the game through them.
Now Dark Vales Games has some new information in regards to how those that had been intent to back the finishing of the project, and those unable to back, that the game would be part of a little platform known as Steam Greenlight. One of the top ten games selected for the platform, Forge will be going live unto the product page soon where players can not only pre-order the game, but by pre-ordering gain instant access to the closed beta they have going on now until November.
Those not able to wait to pre-order the game on Steam and looking to get access right away can still pre-order through the Forge website HERE. And those interested in seeing some of Forge‘s screenshots from before its release build can check them out in the gallery below.
Underemployed is a new MTV drama about a group of 20-somethings who are a year past graduating college and finding out that the world isn’t as open to them as they expected. This is really representative of the generation who are taught from a young age that they could be whatever they wanted to be.
Instead of following their dreams, one of them is working at a donuts store, one is a stripper-for-hire, one is an unpaid intern, one is a volunteer environmentalist, and one is pregnant. Not really the best and brightest. Still, by the end of the episode the unpaid intern now has a decently paid position at a marketing company, and the environmentalist has sold his sold for a $35k job with his father. But money is money, and it leaves almost half of the cast being quite well employed.
At times the writing can be a bit awkward, in particular with Sofia’s voiceovers. Sofia, the writer, is the main character of the show but she’s a bit too awkward and shy to pull it off very well. Sofia plays a character more accustomed to being to the side, with a few lines here and there used for humour. She does alright when she’s not within the group, but once the other main characters become part of the scene she fades into the background and her awkward nature is emphasized.
Each character has some story arc established in the pilot, Sofia finds that her sexuality is not so straight, intern Daphne has an admirer in her boss, Raviva and Lou have a child, and Miles the wannabe model… Well, he wants to be a model. These could turn into interesting story lines, but they’re approached in such a casual way that the gravity of the situations aren’t at all felt by the audience either. An unemployed 20-something having a kid? Aww, that’s cool because look at how well everyone else is taking it! No biggie!
To be fair, I do prefer this over the other extreme of having them all super dark and emotional and whatnot. No one enjoys watching a group of 20-somethings mope around about how tough they have it.
The show relies on the friendship between all of them, but their chemistry as a group isn’t the best. The actors haven’t settled into having that natural relationship that makes it seem like they’ve known each other for years.
Underemployed is watchable, certainly, but it doesn’t have the charm that shows such as Girls or Sex and the City had. If you’re into shows like this then you can certainly check it out, but it won’t have the same compelling story and characters that you’re used to.
Spoiler warning for Devil May Cry 3 and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.
With Devil May Cry 4 Capcom officially went full circle. There was nowhere left to explore with Dante; there had been the first game, a sequel, a prequel and then a whole new sequel (in that order). The character had nowhere left to grow and the fully adult and somewhat mental Dante in DMC4 is the result of the culmination of experiences from each game. This was also proven with the introduction of Nero as a main character, who while similar in many aspects, had a love interest to pull him through the adventure. Something we could never envision the old Dante associating with. He was far too cool and confident to worry about something as fickle as love. Sure he had the occasional fling with the leading lady of each game, but that was an entirely different affair.
We see proof of this concept much later than Devil May Cry 4 and in the form of Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. Ezio is all grown up as a character and this instalment closes off the long, long quest for truth that he followed across three games. In the end he settles down (finally deciding upon a single lady), hangs up his hood and stashes his hidden blades, sealing the Auditore story gamers have been playing passionately for years. And with the imminent release of Assassin’s Creed 3, we’ll finally get the chance to start a whole new circle.
We did see a different side of Dante in his prequel however. In Devil May Cry 3 he was more cocky, more stylish and in a way, cooler than he’d ever been before. But he also showed more emotion. Players could really feel the inner struggle he suffered whenever he had to face Vergil, his brother and only remaining family. After finally defeating Arkham together as brothers, they have to face off one final time in that game as enemies, arch rivals even. In one of the most intense boss fights I’ve ever experienced, Dante and Vergil met on the field of battle for one final time. This was probably the only time Dante ever let his guard down and revealed his true face, ultimately growing as a character.
In the new reboot, DmC Devil May Cry we have an entirely new Dante. Featuring an entirely new world and a with whole new story, one can see that being set in an alternate universe will certainly come with its own set of advantages. This way Dante’s story can be explored all over again and his relationship with the new Vergil can once again be on showcase. It appears that the two even bond over the course of the game, an elegant opposite to their previous conflict.
Whole new experiences can be explored. Entirely new characters introduced and even core gameplay can be altered (though not too far from the stylish hack-and-slash we love please).
With the end of Devil May Cry 4, gamers saw the end to everything we could possibly see from the old Dante. The HD Collection let us relive those old memories once again and that’s great, but now it’s time to see the Ninja Theory and Capcom duo flex their own creative muscles.
I can’t wait to see how it finally turns out.
DmC Devil May Cry releases on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in North America, Europe and Japan on the 15th of January 2013.
The launch trailer for Halo 4 has now been revealed to the public. With a mix of CGI animation and live-action footage, this trailer is certainly out to impress. While strange that no real gameplay is to be seen in this trailer, it certainly does its job of stirring up hype for the game’s imminent release. The trailer focuses on how Master Chief came to be the legendary Spartan he is known as today and showcases some of the shenanigans he’s been up to since the last game. The Prometheans are also featured heavily in the trailer, taking on the new role of primary enemy in this instalment of the series.
The launch trailer was produced by David Fincher and directed by Tim Miller. Halo 4 is developed by 343 Industries and will release on November the 6th exclusively for the Xbox 360.
Focus Home Interactive and Giants Softare released a new video of some of the features coming to Farming Simulator 2013 last week, so this week they are releasing a few screenshots to show off some high quality shots of some of the new things to this years game. Players and aspiring simulation farmers wanting to see what the game will offer can check out the gallery below to some of the new equipment and new livestock, like simply delicious looking sheep and chickens.
Farming Simulator 2013 is coming out next week (October 25th) to PC, or the week after for the UK, and then Xbox 360 and PS3 in the first quarter of next year.
People really love their medical shows. Seriously. You can see it in the amount of new medical dramas every fall, and its always the interns. All these shows are trying to emulate the success that Grey’s Anatomy was so graced with (nine seasons and counting. Seriously). So it’s no surprise that this fall Emily Owens, M.D. was put forward by The CW.
Emily Owens is like a mix between Grey’s and Scrubs, the lead is neurotic and self-conscious, and her voiceover reiterates that time and time again. At first it’s charming, then it gets old. Being that her name is the title of the show that’s concerning.
See, while Grey’s Anatomy is named after the main character, it’s also a witty pun, and even though Meredith has her name in the title, the other characters are so strong that it doesn’t matter if you like her. Her voiceovers come at the beginning and end of the episode, vaguely and cryptically wrapping up all the story lines. Emily Owens voice is constantly saying how her life sucks and obsessing over things.
In a lead I enjoy a sarcastic character; a smart, witty character who takes things with a snarky comment and a raised eyebrow. Or a dorky one who is self aware of their lack of cool and still manages to own it.
Emily Owens tries to be the latter, oh she tries. But instead of being self aware, she is painfully, painfully aware, and every character takes advantage of every opportunity to tell her so. The show takes such pains to say over and over ‘Hey how uncool is she? Isn’t she such a dork? Do you see how lame she is?’ that is just gets annoying and awkward. I understand, she is uncool, and has no confidence, and awkward. I don’t need to have it spelt out for me right up until the last moments.
There are other characters which are far more interesting, the ‘rival’ who has a brother with cystic fibrosis, the lesbian who us trying desperately to hide this from her Chief of staff father, the resident with a mother just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer who still tries to cheer up interns, and the grumpy attending. Hell, even the cheating husband/father who is the Chief. These are all characters who have far more interesting back stories and personalities.
The clean cut, sharp jawed, super model of a male intern, however, is not so interesting. So Emily’s obsession with him, in turn, is uninteresting. Their chemistry is non existant, and her confession of love at the end was just awkward. Not funny awkward, or even uncomfortable awkward, just awkward awkward. It left me feeling nothing except a hope that the scene would end soon.
Other than him, the show does have promising characters. The thing is, the show stays so deeply embedded in Emily Owens head all the time, that we probably won’t get a proper chance to explore the other characters. Hopefully, like Grey’s Anatomy, the show will depart from featuring the main character so strongly (because I may be able to stomach her emphasised dorkiness if given other characters to watch). But if the pilot is anything to judge it by, it isn’t promising.
Keep tuned to CC Screen for more coverage on the new Fall shows, including news, reviews and recaps.
Strategy fans should be interested to hear that Meridian4 and Full Control are making a new tactical strategy game called Frontline Tactics. The first look trailer that they have released shows off a bit of the gameplay and menus, as well as doing it’s best to try and give some good deals about the game. The most interesting aspect though is that the multiplayer will be cross-platform, so anyone with a copy of the game on PC, Mac, iPad, or iPhone will be able to go at it head-to-head or cooperative.
Set in a future of 2025 that still requires the precise oil to make the world go ’round, a splinter military group attempts to take over the country Fahrahn, which is still providing rich with oil. Because Fahrahn is still a large supplier to the West an elite unit is sent in to try and maintain the peace, through not only eliminating the enemy, but protecting valuable locations and assets.
Check out some screenshots from Frontline Tactics in the gallery below, as well as the first look trailer embedded below that. Players wanting more information on the game can check out it’s website HERE.
Ten is a nice round number. It’s a good milestone. Indie Gala is celebrating their tenth bundle with the biggest release yet! Indie Gala follows the traditional pay what you want system, with those playing more than the average receiving extra titles. Indie Gala is returning to support the Italian Red Cross and AbleGamers.
All buyers will receive Omegalodon for Desura, Praetorians as a DRM free download, Majesty 2 for steam, Lead and Gold for Steam, and East India Company for Steam. Those who pay more than the average will receive Europa Universalis Rome Gold, Knights of Honor, Elven Legacy, and Hearts of Iron II Complete for Steam. In addition, there are three secret bonuses, two of them for Steam, that will be released in the second week of Indie Gala. Check out the bundle here.
