Not much is known about Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes since it was first shown off during PAX Prime earlier this month besides the fact that the game will be open world and will feature an old version of Snake. However in an interview with Eurogamer Hideo Kojima revealed a few more tidbits about the title.
As gamers play the game, the world will change from day to night and vice versa and some of the changes between night and day will be adjusted “enemy troop patterns” and more. Unfortunately for those of you hoping that Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes would avoid having loading screens similar to MGS4, well… it doesn’t.
You may have heard about a beloved little title called Shantae: Risky’s Revenge which was previously released as a DSiWare game and most recently on the iOS. Well if you still haven’t been able to play this stellar game yet or don’t have anything to play it on, you may just get your chance because WayForward, developer of the title, have submitted the title to Steam’s new Greenlight service.
For those who don’t know, Greenlight is a system that will allow certain games to make it to Steam that never would have had a chance before. It is a bit strange to see that the game has appeared on the Greenlight service instead of just as an immediately purchasable submission, however you can do your part by voting on the Greenlight page for Shantae: Risky’s Revenge here, though a Steam account is necessary.
Blast A-Way Developer: Illusion Labs Publisher:Illusion Labs Platform: iPhone (reviewed), iPad Release Date: 5th September, 2012 Price:$5.49 Available Here
Overview
Blast A-Way is an indie physics-based puzzle game with some interesting concepts, hidden collectables aplenty and a cute visual style.
Sound familiar?
Indie ideas often seem to sprout from similar seeds, but the results usually feel varied enough to keep things interesting.
Gameplay
Players navigate little robots through brightly-coloured, tightly-designed levels, in search of “Boxies” – littler robots – on the way to the exit. Doing so involves the use of ball-shaped, colour-coded bombs, teleports, “rebuilders” and the like, while geometric shapes in the environment are coloured to indicate which balls can interact with them. Blue cube in your way? A blue bomb will take care of that. Need to get over to that red platform? Use a red teleport.
From this basic framework, clever design allows interesting puzzles to emerge. You may need to change the colour of elements, swap between two characters, or rebuild something you had to destroy earlier. Each level is presented cleanly, leaving the challenge to arise in determining the best order to undertake actions.
That said, you shouldn’t ever find yourself hopelessly unable to reach the end. Give it a few minutes of braining and old fashioned trial-and-error, and the answer will usually present itself quickly. It mightn’t entirely satisfy hardcore puzzlers, but it’s a wise feature of a game on a platform designed for short-burst sessions.
As per standard procedure, grabbing the optional collectables – in this case the Boxies – is where you can sink larger amounts of time. Sometimes you’ll net all three Boxies out of necessity on your way to the exit, while others require extra steps in the action chain.
Unfortunately, navigating levels can be a problem, especially at first. Traversing the three-dimensional environments requires turning and panning the camera, and the distinction between the two is rather fiddly. Sliding your finger across the terrain will pan the camera left, right, forward or backward, while to turn you perform the same motions, holding your finger in the white void around each level.
You’ll get used to it, but it might put off some people before they reach the point of acceptance. I can’t help but feel that the game would be better suited to PC and/or consoles, via Steam, Desura, XBLA or PSN. Controlling the camera with a mouse, and the character with the keyboard seems more intuitive. Although to be fair, drawing a path for the character with your finger is very satisfying, a movement I’m surprised we don’t see more often.
Visuals & Audio
As mentioned, each level is surrounded by empty white space, which makes a clear distinction between level and void. It may sound bland, but what it loses in perceived prettiness is regained in efficiency: you’ll know instantly what you can and can’t play with, and won’t be distracted by unnecessary background dressings.
And besides, the team have obviously dedicated their visual attention to the important bits – the levels themselves. Each “world” of sixteen levels is composed of a different material: wood, metal, fabric, stone and plastic. It means little in gameplay terms, but it gives each setting its own feel.
That kind of differentiation should have been given to the balls you use to get around. The pattern on them tells you if it’s an impact bomb, a sticky bomb, a sponge bomb, a teleport, etc, but the designs aren’t obvious enough. Picking them up becomes the best way to figure out what each one is, but you can’t always do that.
The environments are little more than textured building blocks, so you’d expect the characters to step in to fill the game’s personality quota. Despite being robots that wear cowboy hats, mustaches, sunglasses, or have cogs lodged in their heads, the player characters don’t contribute much. The stars of the show are those little Boxies – damn they’re cute! They’re basically just cubes with legs, but I think it’s their tiny voices that get me. calling for the player’s attention or thanking you for saving them, they remind me of the classic Worms voice.
Accompanied by a soundtrack of cheery tunes, the game is nicely presented, all up.
Overall
Blast A-Way followed the recipe closely, putting its own spin on things when required, but the final product tastes a little… bland. It’s technical, clever and cute, but lacks a true spark.
Were it priced as an ordinary iOS game, it would be easier to recommend, but the premium tag might make some hesitate. Again, that’s a sign of an ill fit for the iOS platform: five bucks would seem a steal for the game, were it on Steam.
Carrier Command: Gaea Mission is the modern take on the classic Carrier Command game from way back when. It is a game that easily combines strategy elements with some amazing action filled gameplay and some even cooler looking visuals. It’s obvious that the team behind the game must have been fans of the classic, considering the amount of care that they’ve taken to create an excellent follow-up to an old favourite. In this preview of an unfinished build of the game (version 0.7.x IIRC) we take a look at how the game is currently looking.
For those of you that are unaware of the Carrier Command legacy, it really doesn’t matter with this game. All that you really need to know is that there is a war going on and that you must use your limited resources intelligently in order to best your foes on the battlefield. However, I will admit, that the opening mission in the storyline is a little misleading as to the games actual content.
What I mean by this is that the opening level sees you running around mostly on foot through a bunch of scripted and predetermined parameters that almost reflect negatively on the game. However, this quickly changes once you head inside some old station of some kind where the game starts to feel a bit more like Doom. Not so much with the whole demons killing everyone thing, but more with the general atmosphere of the level. Fortunately this opening level is pretty quick and sees you capturing your Command Carrier, your portable base that you take with you to capture islands and defeat enemies.
Now obviously the game is called Command Carrier, so it’d be a bit suss if you didn’t at least encounter one right? Well in this game, you capture one and then you sail it to conquer the world. It’s actually quite impressive with the things you can do with it. For one, it’s a Carrier ship; which means that it can carry units. This is important for later when you’ll be invading other islands within the game. It’s also a portable research station and a losing condition. Don’t let it die.
If I was to liken this game to another game, it would definitely be to the old Battlezone (IIRC) games. This is because of the similarities in play that the games share in common. For example, as anyone who has played Battlezone will tell you, vehicles are plenty important to use in capturing points. In Carrier Command, this is no different.
In fact, in this game, it is much more beneficial to capture islands that can produce units than it is to destroy them and then rebuild them. Yes, in Carrier Command you have the option of simply destroying an islands command center, thus enabling you to place your own in the old ones spot, or you have the option to send in a hacking unit to simply take control over that islands command center, transferring all control over units and factories to you.
What’s cool with these units is that you can control some of them, whilst others are automated. For instance, you have a bunch of robotic drones guarding your islands that will automatically do their best to protect it against intruders. In fact, anything that you are not directly controlling can be attributed to some kind of AI guidance. For example, when flying in one of the aerial units, you can assign your three other ones to assist you in the sky. What’s even more fun is that you can automate some units and then control them whilst they’re still moving automatically. This can make for some interesting watching.
Apart from the main campaign, there is also a mode called Strategy Mode. In Strategy Mode, players pretty much play through the game without a storyline. What happens in this mode is that you start with your Command Carrier and you must capture and defeat all of your opponents islands. When I first went into this mode, I figured, you know, it’d only take a few hours to do. Nope. It’s long. This is a good thing.
I think that having a second gametype with a serious amount of longevity is a good thing for a game to have. I mean, what kind of fun could you have just bum-rushing through a strategy game where you have to outsmart your opponent? Not much. Having things take time gives players some room to actually plan and strategise; which is a lot more fun than a rushed and assured victory each and every time.
Visually this game is looking pretty decent. For some reason I don’t think it’s doing that distance blurring effect thing properly, but everything still looks pretty amazing. I’m not going to lie though, the game does not stress the PC any visually. In fact, my current two year old PC cake-walked the game. This, however, does not mean that it is a visual atrocity. It just means that players expecting something like Crysis-Field-20,000 will be disappointed.
Overall I’m actually quite pumped to see how the full version of this game will turn out. As a preview pre-release code, it is incredibly fun to play and aside from a bunch of bugs that are likely to be ironed out before release, I’d say that this is definitely one of those games that you’d have to at least play once or twice. However, the Strategy Mode will have you returning for more and more. Be sure to check out this game when it hits the Xbox 360 and PC later this year.
It seems that some developers just don’t know how to keep their mouths shut. This week in developers who should shut up but don’t, Alex Hutchison of Assassin’s Creed 3 is at it again, this time putting the ‘ass’ in Assassin’s Creed and Christian Svensson from Capcom makes some comments that stirred the pot of Mega Man controversy. That’s not all though, we figured out how the get the PS VITA off life-support and all pretended to care about the cancellation of the Barrage manga. All this and more below!
Texhnolyze Studios: Madhouse Publisher: FUNimation Release Date: August 28th, 2012 Format: DVD Price: $49.98 – Available Here
Overview:
Texhnolyze, pronounced tech-no-lize, seems at first glance to be a very experimental anime. It deals with a lot of very common themes from dystopian societies to robotic limbs. Being released as an Anime Classic since its original run back in 2003, there is a clear sign that there is something about this anime that holds on. Fans of Anime, like me, may better recognize a few of the makers of this series, i.e. Yasuyuki Ueda and Yoshitoshi ABe, from another series, Haibane Renmai. But enough about that, what about Texhnolyze?
Story:
Taking place in the city of Lux, the series sees the city as a broken down and degrading slum run by factions of gangs. The higher society look down upon the street people and even have the luxury of getting replacement limbs, should they require it, through Texhnolyzation. For the most part the story centers on Ichise, a man that’s found his place in the dark, mucky world as a fighter in what the high ups like to call Spectacles, but are really nothing more than bare-knuckle boxing matches. That’s just where he starts in the series though, as he goes quite a long way. From fighter, to amputee, Ichise loses his limbs to members of one of the gangs, while being sparred by a higher member. This is where the first understandings of Ichise as a whole start coming together. He isn’t a normal guy, an excessively good fighter that never seems to quit, Ichise makes his mark in the world by pretty much laying down justice however he sees fit.
The higher member that spares Ichise is Onishi, one of the top in the organization of the Organo. Having 2 texhnolyzed legs, Onishi has been able to hear the voice of the city, which has been leading him along and helping him to know what to do. Clad in a white suit, Onishi is pretty much the one truly good guy in the city, looking out for others and seeking peace however possible with the other gangs. This is the character that we all want to see win, and for good reason, but interestingly enough Ichise is still the main character. Both have battles to fight, it’s just Ichise seems to fight and get into more of them.
The series as a whole is put together very well, between the 22 episodes is a story told in more or less 2 parts, but connected and over-arching into each other. The story can be a bit confusing at times, after all the first episode doesn’t have anyone speaking for the first half and Ichise doesn’t speak himself until some episodes later, but it more or less pays off in the end. The pacing is a little wonky, at some times taking awhile for anything to go anywhere, then suddenly everything’s happening until it calms down.
Dark though is a very big key to the series, no one in the city seems to really care about anyone, but themselves. This leads to a lot of people uncaring about who they hurt or kill. Sex seems to be another key, as that seems to happen just about as much as the killing towards the start of the series. This is a very mature oriented show that doesn’t hold back anything, which is honestly pretty realistic for the world that is shown. The thing about the show that makes it so hard to talk about is the scope of how much is learned throughout the series. What starts off with seeming as a simply gang war turns into a much much bigger scale event. The way the show progresses is pretty great, but don’t get any hopes up for an overly happy ending though.
Visuals:
The visuals are probably the most experimental aspect of the series. Granted they are from 2003, so the colors are pretty flat, but they are often very interesting to look at or provoke a wondering of why they were chosen. A good example is when Ichise is becoming an amputee, the pain and drama of the scene is played out very visually than a lot of other anime. How many times have we seen people lose a limb and act like it is nothing off their back? This isn’t that. The visuals play out the anguish, sure people can get limbs back through texhnolyzation, but it is still a very serious matter over all.
Texhnolyzed limbs themselves are pretty well put together in their own right, which is interesting as one of the makers himself said he had never done anything robotic before. For the most part they almost perfectly mimic human anatomy from bone layout, to the outer covering. Though one of the oddest moments comes in the forms of seeing a full CGI texhnolyze arm for all of one scene before getting back to the standard animation for the rest of the series. Cool to see, but would have had more meaning, if it had had more use perhaps.
Audio:
The music of the series really knows how to kick it off with the opening theme being “Guardian Angel(Xavier’s Edit)” by Juno Reactor, the song itself is pretty upbeat, going against the tone, but does feel right when you’re listening to it. The concept of a guardian angel itself, is a pretty good fit too. The closing theme on the other hand fits better with the much slower “Tsuki No Uta” by Gackt fitting in even more themes with the loss and not wanting to lose someone they care about.
The voice acting in Texnolyze is much different than people might expect just seeing FUNimation, but the series doesn’t have the regulars associated with their english dub as this is an Anime Classic from a bit of time ago. It’s refreshing to hear voice acting done by actors not heard often or at all before. Though not the “highlight” in terms of “voice”, as Ichise spends a very good portion of the anime just doing heavy breathing and it’s very different, but not bad as it’s impressive how much the character is actually able to convey in this way.
Extras:
As an Anime Classic the level of extras is fairly thin, but not completely sparse. While there are no audio commentaries as are very prevalent on other series’, there is still the general fair of trailers for other series and textless opening and closing songs. In addition to this though are two more interesting extras, one being an interview with the creators Ueda and ABe, and the other a number of alternate dialogues. The interview is more for those looking to see where the series came from and what the creators were hoping to do with it, which is nice to see as often the original creators are often over looked for the US release of DVDs. The alternate dialogues are more the opposite, putting lightness and humor into the very dark and depressing series. Some are a little distasteful, but not in a bad way, though the best are the attempts at making all the violence “kid” friendly, as they can get pretty ridiculous.
Overall:
Ultimately, Texhnolyze is not going to be something for everyone, but hopefully those interested in darker shows would be willing to give it a chance. The visuals do a great job at conveying what they need to, and not just what everything looks like. The audio as well is pretty unique, though the heavy breathing might be a negative for some folks. This is probably one of the more realistic takes on dystopian and declining society and I give it
Welcome to my weekly Hunter x Hunter episode impressions. This week, I go through episode 46 of the 2011 version of Hunter x Hunter. What did I think of the episode? Watch below to find out.
Got any questions for Anime Say? You can send me a tweet on my official twitter or alternatively drop me an email at [email protected]. I will do my best to respond to your tweets and emails as well as try read some out on the show.
What do you think of this episode impression? Let us know in the comments section below.
Overview
Mobile gaming and science fiction gamers rejoice! The people over at Bulkypix Studios have created a wonderful game called, Soldiers vs. Aliens, in which you must travel to nine different worlds and fight your way through hordes of alien creatures and rescue stranded survivors while you are at it. They also include a very immersive upgrade and customization system for you to spend your in-game currency on.
Story
The game has quite a gigantic story. The game begins with your first mission which is pacifying the aliens from the N.A.C.O. science center. After you complete this mission, you understand why your soldier keeps his helmet on but, that will be a surprise for when you pick up the game.
The game continues on as you get a distress call from a high security transport and you must rescue some survivors. Yes, some of you may be thinking to yourselves, why gee that sounds like it leads to a good story. Well, it does up until you get to a certain point in the game and the missions begin to repeat themselves with you going and pacifying areas in the universe or saving civilians again. This sort of repetition begins to get old pretty quickly.
Gameplay
The gameplay is pretty simple, you move sliding your finger on to the soldier and moving him like that and you then shoot by tapping or holding another finger on the alien you are trying to kill. The gameplay is a little difficult to use at first if your are like me and have ginormous hands but, it does tend to get easier to use over time.
Aside from the campaign mode which was mentioned above, the game includes a survival mode. The survival mode is just like any other type of survival mode you would play but, the enemies get a whole lot more difficult as you progress right up until the point to where you know you have no chance of surviving.
The game has many weapons for you to choose from, each having its own unique firing method so it gives you the feeling that they are all unique in their own way. One of the great things about the weapons system of the game is that you don’t just go into battle with only one weapon, you are able to choose from the list of weapons you have purchased while you are mowing down the aliens with your trigger happy finger. They were also kind enough to include some equipment to use in the game like turrets or grenades but, they have minor affects on some of the more tougher enemies you shall be facing.
The game includes an armor customization also in which you can choose from different types of armor. The only problem with it is that all the armor upgrades upgrade you to the same amount so there is truly no reason to buy more than one armor set.
Visuals
The games visuals are quite nice. Yes, they might not be the best visuals that are out there but they do fit the game. With the detailed varieties of aliens and the armor your solider is equipped with, you can be assured that they are truly one of a kind. The visuals do not lag at all but, I did seem to have some technical glitches at a few points but as I played on they seemed to go away.
Audio
The game has the epic war music you would expect from any game like it. The audio tracks make you feel like you are a soldier about to go to war and face a threat you have never faced before.
The games sound effects are pretty good also. Each guns has their own sound affects and the aliens make a neat little screech when you kill them and splatter their guts all across the floor.
Overall
Soldiers vs Aliens is a pretty good game. With it’s gameplay, audio, the whole nine yards! While the game has some issues, they don’t really seem to harm the game. The game has a so-so story that could do better and some glitchy visuals every now and then but, you can’t say anything bad about the game, the reason being? It’s free. If I were them, I would have given this game an actual price but, you got to love when a good studio like Bulkypix is generous enough to give you it for free. Now get off your butt and stop eating those donuts soldier and prepare to pick up this game!
After the recent release of the monumental blockbuster The Avengers, on DVD and Blu-ray, hard-core Marvel film fans have had to look forward to September 25th for the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled Blu-ray box-set. But now the enticing box set, which includes Iron Man 1 & 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and Marvel’s The Avengers, has been delayed.
The Tesseract! Not powerful enough to stop a lawsuit?
German luggage company Rimowa GmbH is suing Marvel for using its patented Topas attaché case design in creating their own case, housing the 10 disc, 6 film Blu-ray collection. Samuel L. Jackson used a real Topas attaché case during filming as Nick Fury, hence the continued use of the design. Although Rimowa provided the filmmakers with a genuine case for the movie itself, according to the complaint filed as initially reported by THR, “Marvel did not obtain any license or authorisation from Rimowa to make replica copies of the cases for any purpose.”
Almost an exact replica…
Rimowa’s lawsuit stands on the grounds of trademark infringement, trademark dilution and unfair competition, and the company are looking for a cease action on any further marketing or advertising, and consequently sale, of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled Blu-ray box-set, so long as the case design in question resembles their Topas attaché case.
“Puny lawsuit!”
Now, according to Amazon, “Marvel is planning to offer a similar collection in new packaging. The new collection will include the original titles offered with the first version of the item, and we expect it will be available in the spring of 2013.” Although such a long delay, or any delay at all, is sorely disappointing, it has become clear via a statement made by Disney to IGN that Disney is attempting to make up for the delay by giving customers “even more than the content and features that were first advertised” in the delayed set. Does this make it up to any of you who have pre-ordered the Phase One box-set?
Mutant Mudds hit the eShop this year, and brought back an old school vibe that filled our 3D handhelds with hope and nostalgia. Recently, the platformer hit the PC with some extra levels, and Renegade Kid have stepped in to let us with the 3DS version know that we will soon be getting the bonus stages as well, through free DLC.
Jools Watsham, Co-Founder of Renegade Kid sent out this tweet as re-assurement.
All 60 Mutant Mudds levels tested/completed. Looks like this game is nearly ready for eShop prime-time!
Nearly = 4 to 6 weeks btw. Mudds needs to go through Nintendo testing and then get in the queue for update/release.
Awesome to the “Max” indeed. Renegade Kid have been on a roll as of late, and it will be exciting to see just what will be next from the developer on the 3DS (and all other platforms for that matter). When the update for Mutant Mudds goes live, we will be sure to let you know so stay tuned!
