Last week, we brought you the review for Double Dragon Neon, which is a phenomenal beat-em-up throwback that fans new and old can appreciate due to it’s epic soundtrack, awesome gameplay, and glossy 80’s design. We loved the game so much we gave it a 9.5, and I have still been playing the game nearly every day just to unlock all of the bro-ness WayForward packed in.
Today, WayForward released a new trailer for the game, which shows off the enemies, Lee brothers, and of course the tunes that will rock your ears. Of course you can check out the trailer below, but I also recommend downloading the game as it definitely is worth every single penny. Now go log in, and get to killin’ those Williams.
Now that Bethesda has finished releasing the developer diaries for their upcoming game Dishonored, they have begun a three-part Dishonored webseries which they are calling the “Tales from Dunwall.” These videos will serve as a prequel to the story of Dishonored and the first video which can be seen below is called “The Awakening.”
Each one of these videos is narrated by Chloe Grace Moretz who was in the movie Kick Ass and scored by Daniel Licht. Each of these episodes gives us a small glimpse at the shadowy world of Dishonored and the city of Dunwall itself which has plague running rampant as the city falls apart.
Go Back To Where You Came From is a highly topical show that has just seen the airing of it’s second season. Asylum seekers and refugees are just about the biggest hot potato imaginable in Australia, so any show that tackles the subject head on is daring indeed. The first season saw six regular Australians travel around the world to see the other side of the refugee crisis, and for the second season six prominent Australians get the same eye opening treatment.
The group includes Angry Anderson, rock musician and conservative political activist; Peter Reith, former Howard Government senior cabinet minister; Imogen Bailey, actress and animal rights activist; Allan Asher, former Ombudsman; Catherine Deveny, writer and comedian; and Michael Smith, former radio shock jock.
The show is an intriguing watch, as the group – who have various mixed views on the issue – are confronted with the reasons why so many people are fleeing to Australia. It’s a rare programme that seeks to inspire debate, allowing people of different political views and cultural backgrounds to be presented with the realities of an incredibly confronting issue.
SBS have just announced that Go Back To Where You Came From Season 2 will be released on DVD on November 7 2012, retailing at $29.95.
Skullcandy announced their new line of headsets today with the tag line Never Retreat, Never Surrender. “The authenticity and attitude of the Skullcandy brand is the driving force behind our gaming mantra, “Never Retreat, Never Surrender,” and is the inspiration for our new series of gaming headsets. All three products were also designed and developed cooperatively with our premium gaming headset market leader, ASTRO Gaming,” said Jeremy Andrus, CEO of Skullcandy.
The SLYR is the first headset in the lineup. Released recently, the black headset is a stereo gaming headset with compatibility for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, WiiU, PC, and mobile devices. The headset features a stashable boom mike, a GMX in line mixer with volume and audio balance controls, and EQ3 equalizer modes for extra bass, precision, gaming, movies, and music. Blue and white versions of the SLYR will hit the shelves soon at the same $79.99 price point.
The Skullcandy PLYR2 is the lower end model of their two new wireless headsets. It has the same set of features as the SLYR but provides a pivoting boom mic, and 2.4Ghz wireless technology. The PLYR2 is available in black/yellow, teal/navy, and white is priced at $129.99 and will be available for the 2012 holiday season.
PLYR1 is headlining Skullcandy’s gaming headset line. PLYR1 takes the same 2.4Ghz technology, microphone, and equalizer modes as it’s smaller brother and ups the game with full Dolby Pro Logic IIx 7.1 surround sound. The PLYR1 comes in black or white and is priced at $179.99. The headset will available for purchase in early 2013.
Mistwalker announced their newest game today. Blade Guardian is a real time tower defense strategy game. Players will need to skillfully deploy their units to funnel enemies into choke points and towards their doom. Featuring traditional Japanese video game art style, Blade Guardian introduces an offensive game to the tower defense genre. Players will be able to capture and upgrade enemy blades and deploy them against their former comrades in both defensive and offensive maneuvers.
The game also makes use of iOS device’s motion sensing capabilities. Blades can be turned into Sphere Blades to roll over and crush enemies in a style reminiscent of a dark sci-fi Katamari Damacy.
Blade Guardian is slated for an October 1st, 2012 release for iOS.
Mistwalker announced the 1.2 update for Party Wave and the free demo version of Party Wave will be released October first. No word has been released on exactly what the update will contain and what limitations will be in place for the free version of Party Wave. An Android version has been teased but the date remains as to be announced.
Party Wave is Mistwalker’s first foray into mobile gaming. Players are able to guide several surfers away from obstacles and danger into some sweet waves and help them surf for maximum points. Be sure to check out the new Party Wave trailer below.
You can check out Capsule Computer’s review of Party Wave here. If you are ready to make the dive into Party Wave without waiting for the free version, it can be purchased herefor $1.99.
Boulder Dash XL 3D Developer:Catnip Games/FirstStar Software/Ludosity Publisher: Reef Entertainment Platform: 3DS Release Date: 5th October Price: £19.99 – Available Here
Overview:
Catnip Games was tasked with updating an old classic for Xbox Live Arcade and PC and in 2011 Boulder Dash XL was excavated from the craggy, ancient ruin of 1984’s Boulder Dash. The developer did a stellar job, refreshing the visuals but leaving the simple gameplay mechanics more or less untouched. Who, however, played this reboot and thought ‘you know what this needs: some nausea-inducing 3D effects courtesy of the 3DS’? Still, around a year after the big screen version here it is, with a budget £19.99 price tag to go some way towards making up the difference in price with the downloadable version.
Gameplay:
It’s a simple game from simple time, with the classic premise, synonymous with that era, of running around collecting shiny things. The shiny things are played by diamonds, the adventurer played by a robot (Rockford or Crystal) and the danger, on this occasion, is cleverly cast as the falling boulder loosened by your own greed. There are also bugs lurking in your underground mining missions to contend with, but where the boulders crush you and kill you in one, a bug only takes off a portion of your energy when it manages to hit you.
You mine your way through small two-dimensional grids, chewing your way through earth and collecting jewels until you have enough to open the exit from the cave and complete the level. It’s called an action puzzler because you have to choose a path and assess the danger on the fly, pushing rocks or causing them to fall on purpose in order to free up a new path or jewel. You consider your surroundings all the time but it isn’t the sort of careful calculation of an out and out puzzle game due to the time limit. Then again, it would depend on what mode you are in, as the measured, tactical side to the game is an option.
Although it is sugar-coating the situation a little, technically-speaking there are five modes: Arcade, Puzzle, Zen, Score and Retro. In reality it’s more like three. Arcade mode is a race against the clock to seek out enough diamonds to meet the exit-unlock requirements. There’s usually plenty to spare once you’ve reached this target, which leaves room for repeated play throughs, as you can either do a basic completion of the level and get a green tick next to that selection, or collect every gem and get a gold tick.
The Zen and Score modes, however, are made of the same stuff. Zen mode, as the name suggests, is a chilled out place to practise the caves from Arcade free of any time constraint, so you can plan out your route through the level. Score mode is similar gameplay-wise too, only with renewed focus on getting a high score by chaining treasure in quick succession for higher points bonuses. In Score mode, the girds you play on are much bigger – to promote repeated play throughs, bettering your old scroes by working out the best routes – although there is consequently a great deal less of them.
There are 150 caves in total but the game only really comes into its own in the puzzle and retro modes, which have 25 maps each. Puzzle mode offers the aforementioned slow and steady style of play which seems to suit Boulder Dash well. Less action more puzzler, this mode has much smaller caves in which every move you make is important and you’ll only reach the exit successfully if every move is done in the correct sequence. The thoughtful nature of play here, where you learn the way through using retry constantly, makes for a greater personal sense of achievement than the haphazard, bash and dash style of Arcade.
Retro too carries a similar feeling of reward when you do finally complete a level, but not for the same reasons. In this case, it is because of the challenge it poses. As well as the visuals reverting back to their previous incarnation, the difficulty goes old school, presenting a tough as nails wall of stone in the way of progress to remind you of how accustomed to we’ve all come to more forgiving games.
Visuals & Audio:
In terms of graphics, the game doesn’t seem to be stretching the handheld system to its limits but is facelift for Rockford and Crystal, whom you can actually tell are robots now. With its cute music, the game even manages to give a blank-faced robot a tiny personality. Sound effects, on the other hand, are a no-no due to the frequency with which you collect or smash things, though thankfully you can switch sound effects off separately from the music.
Overall:
Asking me to give the game a score and tell you whether it’s worth buying or not places me between a rock and a hard place. It’s definitely one of the more subjective games I’ve played of late in that it will appeal to some through aspects which others will detest. For me, its quality lies in the Puzzle mode – not conventional Boulder Dash territory but a slow, considered pace seems to suit it. One thing you can be sure of is that your money would be better spent on the cheaper XBLA version of Boulder Dash XL if you have got your eye on it; the 3D doesn’t add much, and the visuals undoubtedly look better on a more powerful machine and bigger screen. Plus, playing something bite-sized on the go like this is available at a fraction of the cost in this day and age through the Apple Appstore.
DMD Enterprise’s Uprising44: The Silent Shadows may have only just been released for digital distribution on September 18th, but they are still hard at work updating the game as can be seen with Update 1.02 released today. So, what all does the new update do for the game?
Changes made for the game to overall improve it include:
New firing sounds for weapons
New balance for short firearms
New and better camera views for the cutscenes in mission “Tenement under Fire”
Plus additional Main Menu information
Fixing English subtitles
Fixing loading screens
Fixing the enemy AI functionality
Fixing the main camera functionality
Players can download the patch from the following websites:
English Update 1.01 for GreenMan Gaming or Gamers Gate versions (required before 1.02) HERE
FIFA 13 has come to the iOS platform for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch, but don’t feel it’s been skimping on the fun as the iOS version still maintains 33 licensed stadiums to play in and more than 500 teams across 30 leagues. EA Sports has even put in the work to make sure that for the first time players from the iOS version can play online against Origin users.
Other features include allowing players to support their favorite soccer club by earning XP. Players with a bigger sense of history of the sport will find a lot of interesting fun to be had in the challenges that allow them to relive moments in history. Those more connected to the social media streams will also enjoy being able to take moments from their own games and uploading them right to YouTube.
Players interested in FIFA 13 can find it on iTunes App Store for $6.99 HERE.
Dead or Alive 5 Developer: Team Ninja Publisher:Tecmo Koei Platforms:PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (Reviewed) Release Date:September 25, 2012 Price:$59.99 – Available Here
Overview: Amongst the rather small list of 3D fighting games that are still being released in today’s gaming age, there stands one franchise which has always made itself memorable with relatively easy to learn combat and a cast of characters which are memorable in more ways than one. That franchise happens to be Dead or Alive. Now while it has been a few years since Dead or Alive saw a full release on a console that didn’t involve volleyball, Dead or Alive 5 looks to bring some action packed fighting to fans everywhere. Does it manage to succeed? Let’s find out.
Story: Rather than simply feature an archaic arcade mode that only offers a small video for each character in the game, Dead or Alive 5 supports a full blown story mode. Gamers will go through the story mode playing as a number of different characters in the roster, usually fighting around three to four fights which each one before switching to the next character in the story.
While not very long in length, Dead or Alive 5’s storyline does a relatively nice job bringing most of the characters together and keeping the various character relationships that have been built up over past releases intact. It is also worth noting that the two new characters, Mila and Rig are also present in the storyline with the two of them woven into the existing story well enough that they don’t feel intrusive.
Visuals: If you thought that past Dead or Alive games have looked good before then you will simply be blown away with how amazing the character models in Dead or Alive 5 look. Every character in the game sports an absolutely beautiful appearance and excellent facial expressions, making it the best looking fighting game on the market today. Their fighting motions are unique to each character and each one manages to portray the character’s personality.
To top that off, the character’s themselves actually get dirty and sweat during a fight, meaning that a fighter’s outfit can become sweat stained or see-through and covered in grime during an intense fight, making it feel all the more real. The characters also come with a relatively large amount of alternate costumes, with most characters seeing over five unlockable outfits which are full clothing changes rather than simple palette swaps.
Outside of the characters themselves, the stages the player will be fighting on are also well designed and also action packed thanks to the fact that most of them have things occurring in the background in some shape or form. Whether it is fighting in the middle of the Dead or Alive ring, in the middle of a middle-eastern battleground or in the Antartic, each stage is visually impressive and a number even feature multiple levels of combat, allowing for fighters to be knocked over an edge or balcony, resulting in damage and the fight continuing in a fresh area.
Audio: Combat in Dead or Alive 5 is absolutely brutal thanks to the fact that every connecting attack makes a satisfying thud and even the throws themselves sound bone-breaking. The environmental noise on each stage creates a great atmosphere for each fight, though it is worth noting that the game’s background music is a bit substandard and can be easily forgotten about.
One thing that is definitely worth mentioning is the fact that all of the characters have had some impressive voice work recorded for them and considering how dialogue heavy the story mode of the game can be; this is a major plus, though the guest character’s voice work feels off compared to the rest of the cast. The voice work also translates into the fights themselves as the characters will often make small comments during a fight, besides grunting of course, when certain moves are performed, making the fight feel a bit more alive.
Gameplay:
In case you happen to be unfamiliar with the franchise, Dead or Alive 5 features a four button system where players will perform punching attacks with Y, kicks with B, holds (which counter blows with a throw)/guarding with X and throws with A. This makes the game a bit easier to pick up and play for newcomers thanks to the fact that there is no need to worry about a limb system, but there are also a large number of moves and attacks that players can learn for each fighter, with some fighters containing over a hundred different attacks for the more hardcore fighter to master.
Dead or Alive 5 provides a nice selection of characters to choose from with a few guest characters that must be unlocked during Story Mode as well as two new characters. The balance between these fighters is well-handled and thanks to the hold system even slower characters have a chance against faster fighters. As far as new characters go, Rig is a nice addition with an impressive move set while Mila features an MMA fighting style that even includes ground throws which result in either ground and pounding or MMA submission moves for damage.
One thing that has received a notable increase in Dead or Alive 5 is how intense the fighting is. The action usually will feel very fast paced as the characters fight one another and this is accentuated by the fact that nearly every single stage is interactive in one way or another. One example is that a player can hit their opponent into a generator, causing it to explode and cause massive damage to the environment, creating a cliff for players to throw their opponent off of.
The interactivity with each level is especially noticeable when the player uses a new fishing move called a “power blow” which is new to the Dead or Alive series. Only usable at about half health, this charge attack will not only deal a large amount of damage to your opponent but send them flying a great distance. Players can slightly aim where they want to blast their opponent, allowing them to choose what obstacle they want them to smash into and deal even more damage. Thanks to the power blow’s charge time and the fact that players must be under 50% health makes it feel relatively balanced despite the fact that it can be used to swing the fight in one’s favor.
Now there are a number of modes for a player to choose in Dead or Alive 5, such as the aforementioned story mode, an arcade mode that players can do as one on one battles or as a tag team, score attack and survival for those looking to set high scores, an in-depth practice mode that can teach every character’s attack and even simulate online lag if the player wishes it and of course, a Spectator mode. The spectator mode will allow players to watch the computers fight it out and also the player can take snapshots of the fighters in action with a free motion camera.
While those are all offline options one can play with others in local co-op, there are a number of online fights as well. Players can choose to accept “Throwdowns” during offline matches and jump into an online match instantly, fight a ranked match or just a “simple” player match. There are also online lobbies which can be created and customized so that players can fight in tournament style and also spectate on the current fight while they wait their turn. As far as the netcode goes, Dead or Alive 5 played smooth online during my matches and opponents were found quickly when desired, though accepting throwdowns during offline matches sometimes resulted in no fight occurring.
Now, one thing that Dead or Alive has been known for is the fact that the game contains a relatively large amount of fan service and that is retained in Dead or Alive 5. In fact it has actually increased thanks to the dirt and sweat that characters now gather and the spectator mode. However while this is available for those who enjoy fan service with their games, it is not something that is forced down the player’s throat so it can easily be ignored.
Overall: Dead or Alive 5 is the pinnacle of what the series has been capable of so far, with unbelievable visuals and intense combat, the fighting never gets old. While there are some people who will say that Dead or Alive 5 is mostly about the fan service, there is also a deep and enjoyable game beneath all of the more, shall we say, sensual features in the game. With an impressive offering both online and offline and plenty of content to unlock and most importantly, tight fighting mechanics, make Dead or Alive 5 one of the best fighting games you’ll play all year long.
Go Back To Where You Came From is a highly topical show that has just seen the airing of it’s second season. Asylum seekers and refugees are just about the biggest hot potato imaginable in Australia, so any show that tackles the subject head on is daring indeed. The first season saw six regular Australians travel around the world to see the other side of the refugee crisis, and for the second season six prominent Australians get the same eye opening treatment.
