Spelunker HD (not to be confused with the all too similar Spelunky) graced the PlayStation Network all the way back in August last year. Much like the recently released XBLA game, Spelunker is a super tough platformer that demands absolute precision and a ton of patience from gamers to get through a plethora of underground caves.
Tozai games have just announced that the game will be recieving a software update and new content on August 28. Players can look forward to ten new levels in each of the seven DLC packs, and a nice top up of ten free stages with the software update. The update will also improve the screen views in the game’s multiplayer mode, which can get a little chaotic as it currently stands.
The new levels will form part of the game’s Championship Mode, and the seven packs will gradually roll out after the free release of the first with the software update, with two expected to release in September.
Make sure and check out the review for Spelunker HD.
Total Recall Studio: Original Film Publisher:Columbia Pictures Format:Cinema Release Date:August 23, 2012
Overview:
Reboots are trivial things aren’t day? They’re just an exercise in recycling old ideas in an attempt to bleed more dollars out of something that has most likely passed it’s point of relevancy or profitability. So that brings us to Total Recall, a reboot of a 1990 film of the same name which in itself is adapted from a short story titled ‘We Can Remember it for You Whole Sale’. One could hazard the question of whether there was a point in remaking what many consider to be a Sci-Fi classic. Was rebooting Total Recall worthwhile? I would respond that question with the answer – Yes and No.
Story:
Fans of the original film perhaps remember it most for it’s setting of Mars, it’s three breasted prostitute or perhaps the infamous line ‘Get your ass to Mars!’ As a fan of the original myself I was somewhat taken aback to realise that only one of those things was in this film and it was the least essential one to the plot – the three breasted prostitute (not that I am complaining). So instead of getting his ass to Mars, the film leaves Douglas Quaid on Earth torn between the quietly warring nations of The United Federation of Britain and The Colony (formerly Australia). This is a completely different setting from that of the original film and the Philip K. Dick short story. So in that regard, Total Recall 2012 warrants it’s existence by doing something different. This isn’t going to be a straight up remake, it is going to try and tell a different yet familiar story. As far as that goes, it does okay.
The film itself doesn’t do much particularly new and in fact borrows a lot of material from other science fiction, in particular the video-game Half Life 2, of which a large portion of the film seems to have taken inspiration from. There are many other similarities to other films both of the Sci-Fi genre and Action genre. For example there are a lot of scenes that take their cues from the original Die Hard film.
At it’s core, Total Recall is trying to tell a far more emotional story than the original far more camp version. Unfortunately though, it rarely succeeds at hitting the right emotional moments, due to it’s inability to develop characters beyond a mission statement (Quaid wants to know his true identity, his wife wants to kill him for being a traitor, Cohagen is evil because he is and Melina loves him because she does). It’s all rather trivial and contrived but despite the lack of emotional investment, I did find myself thoroughly enjoying the twists and turns the story took, even though I knew the majority of what was coming.
While failing to provide an emotional hit, the film does have occasional flashes of brilliance with excellently played out action sequences that would thrill even the most wayward of action film fans. Despite that, it amounts to very little more than meandering fun as there are far too many plot inconsistencies and under developed characters for you to enjoy it beyond face value. Try digging any deeper and everything will fall apart in grand fashion.
Total Recall is an exercise in going through the motions not of a reboot but of a standard action film. Most of the beats it hits feels familiar, not because its a reboot but because it draws from other action films so heavily that its hard not to feel as though you have seen all this before. It’s all so derivative, right down to the predictable dialogue. So many of the lines in the film felt lifted from others, or at least simply reworded. The actors do their best with the writing they are given (Cranston in particular does an excellent job as Cohagan despite the 2D nature of the character) but can not ultimately redeem the wooden nature of it all.
It never connects the dots on it’s themes either. We as an audience never truly question whether things are ‘real’ or not because the film doesn’t invest enough time into trying to make us believe it may not be. Nor do we ever get the feeling that the resistance are truly good other than being beaten over the head with the fact that they are the good guys, for some reason or another.
Ultimately the film never managed to get the wheels turning when it comes to it’s plot or themes. Nothing ever truly connects and we are left simply with some pretty action to enjoy for a fleeting 2 hours.
Visuals and Audio:
Aesthetically and aurally, Total Recall is your standard Sci-Fi fare. Sci-Fi genre veterans won’t see much here that they haven’t seen before albeit in a slightly different manner. As a Sci-Fi setting the world of Total Recall is suitably grim, with The United Federation of Britain taking it’s design cues from things like Mass Effect and Half Life 2 and The Colony looking like Sydney Darling Harbour was made into a partially floating shanty town (I personally was reminded of Jak 2). It does the job of providing an interesting enough setting but we don’t get to explore it enough to truly get the feel of it. Every time we begin to take to a location we are whisked away to somewhere else, never staying long enough to really appreciate the intricacies of the world.
When it comes to the film’s soundtrack, what can you say other than it was disappointing? There is a heavy overuse of pseudo dub step tracks and the ominous and over bearing horns arrangement that so often sounds throughout the film. All in all things could have been better, but they aren’t. They don’t go for anything original like the 1990 version and instead just opt for the most generic denominator.
Overall:
With all that said, Total Recall isn’t by any means that bad of a film, it has a great deal of flaws but it’s still a fun 2 hours to switch your brain off to. If you are looking for a true reboot of Total Recall, then you won’t find it here. This is a vastly different film that never fires on all cylinders in the way that the 1990 version does. It doesn’t provide any food for thought, but if you’re only in it for the action and something to blow some time with, then Total Recall is for you. If you’re looking for something with more substance, then maybe you should get your ass to Mars and watch the original film, at least that film had camp Arnie at his best. Let’s just say that years from now this won’t be the version of Total Recall that people will totally recall.
Shakugan no Shana Season One Studio: JC Staff Publisher:FUNimation Format: Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack Release Date:August 21, 2012 Price: $59.98 – Available Here
Overview:
Many anime fans have likely heard of the series Shakugan no Shana before and may even own a copy of the anime in their household already thanks to the fact that this anime which originally was created by JC Staff back in 2005 has been re-released a few times over the years on DVD, once through the now defunct Geneon Entertainment and twice through FUNimation.
Now that the second season of the series is about to be released, FUNimation is bringing the first season of Shakugan no Shana to anime fans once again, this time with Blu-ray capabilities. Does Shakugan no Shana Season One provide a solid starting point to the series?
Story: Shakugan no Shana’s storyline takes placing during the modern era where a boy named Yuji Sakai has been attending high school just like everyone else. He has a crush on another girl in his class but besides that, his life has been your standard affair. However that all changes one day when suddenly time around him pauses and a horrific creature appears out of nowhere, eating everyone around him and destroying the area.
Suddenly, a small young woman appears with flame-red hair and eyes appears and obliterates the creature. However during the battle, Yuji was horribly injured but to his surprise, he isn’t even bleeding. This young woman explains to him that these creatures, called Denizens, are members of another realm called the Crimson Realm and they feed off the life energy of the normal world. Whenever one of these Denizens appear and slaughter people, the people tasked with slaying them, Flame Hazes, must replace what was taken from the world in an effort to keep the universe in balance.
However the only way they can do this is for a Flame Haze to recreate the bodies of the people who have been killed as Torches, people who have been created from the remnants of humans who will eventually fade away and be forgotten like they never existed at all. The reason that Yuji’s isn’t even in dire need of help is because he too is a Torch, a person whose entire existence was devoured.
However, there are special instances where when a Torch is created; a special treasure is created within them. Yuji happens to have had the rarest treasure appear within him and it not only gives him free movement within the frozen time-space, but also the ability to constantly refill his life energy at the stroke of midnight every night, allowing him to never disappear and potentially live forever.
While trying to learn more about the Torchs and the Crimson Realm he slowly becomes friendly with this young Flame Haze who he names Shana. In an effort to monitor Yuji and his special treasure, Shana takes over the role of a young girl in his class whose torch already went out. With Shana close at hand, Yuji quickly is submersed in a world he’s never known, one where human life and identity is challenged every day. To make things worse, when knowledge about Yuji’s treasure is spread around, dark and powerful forces begin to move to try and secure it. Can Shana protect Yuji and all those around him?
The first season of Shakugan no Shana runs at twenty four episodes and considering the fact that it was based off of light novels in the first place, the story is told through a number of multiple episode story arcs where various Denizens and other Flame Hazes come to try and kill Yuji and those around him. Thankfully this setup avoids feeling formulaic with manageable pacing and enemies with a wide range of abilities.
As for the cast themselves, viewers are given a treat in the form of Shana herself. While Yuji soon comes to grips with the fact that he is nothing more than a replacement for a person whose existence was already devoured, Shana is introduced to viewers as a practical blank slate. This means that throughout the course of the series viewers get to watch an emotionally stunted Shana slowly develop feelings for those around her as well as a growing attachment to Yuji.
These two main characters are accented well by an enjoyable cast of side-characters, including a later love-rival for Shana who forces her to start truly thinking about Yuji in a way she never thought of before. Add in another Flame Haze who happens to drown herself in alcohol and her partner, a book with a biting sense of humor and there are still plenty of laughs to be had in a series which focuses heavily on action and drama.
Visuals: It is worth noting for those who pick up Shakugan no Shana’s first season with this release, that the first season of the show actually aired back in the beginning of 2006 so that means that most animation techniques used are over six years old at this point in time, meaning some characters are designed rather blandly outside of the main cast. It is also worth noting that the quality of the animation does take a hit during non-action scenes, plus with the series taking a jump to Blu-ray the quality isn’t quite what one would expect, though it is still a mild upgrade from the original DVD releases.
As for the action scenes themselves the series is still a spitfire as far as quality goes. The animation viewers are presented is beautifully handled and fluid with lots of easy to follow attacks and realistic damage. It also really helps that the series makes an excellent use of atmosphere, with most action scenes given a red tint to match Shana’s flames and easy transitions to and from battles.
Audio: As one would expect with a FUNimation release, Shakugan no Shana’s first season is being released with both the traditional Japanese dub as well as the English voice track originally handled by Geneon. Both of these tracks feature impressive voice actors, though fans of Japanese voice actors can note that Shana is voiced by Rie Kugimiya. Despite the stiff comparison however, Tabitha St. Germain who provides the English voice of Shana handles her character and personality quite nicely.
The first season’s soundtrack is well handled with appropriate background music that helps set the mood for most situations as well as enjoyable combat music. For the first season viewers are treated to two different opening songs, “Scarlet Color Sky” by Mami Kawada and “Being” by Kotko. Both of these opening themes share a similar tone and are enjoyable enough to listen to, though most viewers will likely skip over them after a few viewings.
As for closing songs, there are two present within the twenty four episodes of Season One and these are “A Girl will be born at Dawn” by Yoko Takahashi and “Crimson Calmness” by Yoko Ishida also share similar tones which are slower paced but are matched alongside fitting animation sequences that really help accentuate the tone of the music.
Extras: While there are no interviews with the cast or commentaries, Shakugan no Shana’s first season does come with a number of bonus features, though a few of them are a bit standard. Viewers are given clean versions of the two opening songs as well as the two ending songs, though the full version of “Scarlet Color Sky” is played as a third ending which is also presented as clean and a few trailers for past and upcoming releases.
As far as non-standard bonuses go, there are three of them and each of them are presented in English. First there are the Naze Nanai Shana clips which are eight short videos which answer some questions concerning the possibly confusing terminology of the series, though most of it is explained comically. Also provided are the two Shakugan no Shana-Tan videos, with Shakugan no Shana-Tan Returns being the longer one. Both of these clips provide a comedic look at how some scenes in the season would look with a mini-chibified version of Shana as well as some out of character dialogue from the rest of the cast.
Overall: Shakugan no Shana’s first season helps set some solid framework for the rest of the series to build itself around, with most of the characters introduced in these first twenty four episodes and their issues worked out. With our main heroine and her attempts to understand her new emotions playing out during many of the season’s key battles, viewers will quickly grow to like the pairing of Yuji and Shana.
Though the Blu-ray presentation isn’t quite as good as most would be expecting and the age of the series does show with some questionable visual quality, Shakugan no Shana Season One will leave viewers wanting to see what else is waiting for the likable cast of characters in the Crimson Realm.
Concept art of what seems to be Heavenly Sword 2 has been leaked online depicting the main protagonist Nariko, the beautiful and fierce sword master of the Shen clan, engaged in combat in what seems to be a desert setting. Other concept art is very suggestive of the enemies we may have faced, including what seem to be three other bosses riding horses.
Sequels to Heavenly Sword have been discussed for some time as Ninja Theory had planned for 2007’s hack and slash adventure to be the first in a trilogy. However, due to weak sales and the company’s focus on other multi-platform series such as Devil May Cry’s reboot (due out on January 15, 2013) and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, nothing else has been heard on the continuation of the series up until now. It is also possible this artwork may have been used in the latter game, as the art styles seem particularly similar. Though these new pieces have not been confirmed by Ninja Theory as being Heavenly Sword 2’s artwork, they seem pretty similar to the ones found for the first game.
Check out the leaked art below and tell us what you think on the comments section!
Are you excited for noitaminA’s upcoming Fall 2012 season offerings? Well if you are, I am sure you have probably heard of the new series Psycho-Pass by now.
Details on the series have been very vague up until this point, but some new details on the anime have come to light as well as the first promotional trailer for it. While details of the plot are still currently thin, we now have confirmation of the series art director and you’d perhaps be surprised to hear that the character art is being handled by Reborn! manga creator Akira Amano. This is her first time working on an art project other than Reborn! since beginning serialization of the manga back in 2006.
In the promo trailer for Psycho-Pass you can see the series protagonist which is of course designed by Amano. Psycho-Pass is set to begin this October in the noitaminA anime block and will be paired with Robotics;Notes a series from the creators of Steins;Gate. Check out the Psycho-Pass trailer below.
ToyBox Developer: Barrel of Donkeys Publisher:Surprise Attack Platform: iPhone (reviewed), iPad Release Date: August 23 Price: 99c Available Here
Overview
Are you the kind of person that will play a game while waiting for another game to load? Well, now there’s an app for that.
ToyBox, from Melbourne indie studio Barrel of Donkeys, is a bullet-hell shooter. It’s also a match-three puzzler. It’s a gaming griffin, a unique beast created from an unlikely pairing of familiar beasts. Games have long since settled into distinct genres, but there’s been a bit of experimentation with combining them lately, with interesting but mixed results.
So how well does ToyBox fare, in duct-taping together these two well-trodden, disparate genres?
Gameplay
ToyBox is the result of a steamy, alcohol-fuelled one night stand between Galaga and Bejewelled. On the left half of the screen, you control a spaceship, shooting at endless waves of planes, robots and UFOs. Destroying enemies with flashing lights will cause a block of the same colour to fall into the grid on the right-hand side of the screen. You aim to match three blocks vertically, horizontally or diagonally. The more you match on the right, the better your weapons on the left. You get a single point towards your score for each destroyed enemy, and twenty for a match.
My relationship with the game followed an odd path. It started high, as the pairing felt pleasantly unfamiliar. Soon, my appreciation dropped, and I began to write it off as gimmicky. It suddenly seemed like two very basic games bound by a tenuous relationship. Nothing too interesting.
But the longer I stuck it out, the more I realized the depth that relationship offered.
My inclination towards labelling the premise a mere gimmick came from a perceived imbalance: the match-three half of the game seemed to play second fiddle to the shooter side. While there’s an ever-present threat to your ship on the left, there’s no sense of urgency to the puzzle on the right. If blocks stack up to the top of screen, the bottom row pushes down, with no penalty. You can essentially ignore it, and get through.
So I tried that. Happily, I was wrong. It doesn’t work. Both sides are equal parts of the whole; not only is each match of three worth twenty destroyed ships, but it clears the screen of enemies. As they get faster and more numerous, matching becomes absolutely vital to stay on top. If the ship gets swamped you’ll tend to focus on that side, but setting up a match will clear the screen: to defeat an urgent threat, you have to tear your eyes away from that threat. It’s an interesting concept.
Throw in the weapon upgrades and extra lives to be earned, and the idea of imbalance seems ridiculous.
The ultimate goal is the elusive high-score, with online and friend leaderboards to urge you ever onwards. Each week the level will change, the leaderboard will reset, and players will begin score-chasing again on equal footing. Only one level has been playable so far, so I can’t say with certainty, but there may be potential problems with this model. It’s implied by an in-game hint: if the current level is too difficult, try next week’s. Encouraging players to not play your game is never a good thing. It’s why I couldn’t get into Tiny Tower: I’d be on the bus playing, I’d do all I could in a few minutes, and the game would force me to not play for an hour. After a few attempts, I stopped going back (although considering its popularity, maybe I’m the minority).
Thankfully, the difficulty curve is designed so that anyone should be able to get a reasonable distance into the level, still having a good time trying to break their own record. Maybe it won’t be a problem at all. We’ll give it time.
The other main issue is a product of the hardware: your thumb often obscures the action at essential points. Sometimes a narrow safe passage between enemy fire becomes very difficult to judge with your digits in the way. The developers apparently noted this, and gave the choice of three different control sensitivities. “Direct” is most problematic, as wherever your thumb goes, the ship goes. I found “Exaggerated” works best: small rolls of the thumb translate to large movements of the ship. It solves the problem for the most part, but it will still crop up occasionally.
Visuals & Audio
Wrapped around this gooey gamey centre is a crisp candy shell, a pastel world of toy robots, ships and building blocks. With the gameplay so solid, the visual style and setting could be forgiven for being bland as hell. Thankfully, the Donkeys have put a lot of effort into presentation. Even on the small screen, the ships and UFOs project a 1950s tin-toy aura, and the imperfectly-painted blocks, with their visibly grainy wood, are quaint.
Through all this, you’re also partly creating the music as well. In an excellent example of sound design, a basic drum beat plays constantly, while every enemy destroyed nets you a note. It subconsciously encourages you to string together shots, to create more pleasing melodies.
Overall
ToyBox is a box of joy, an intriguing idea expertly executed and presented in a charming package. Simple at a glance, the game is a deceptively deep, relentlessly addictive debut title. Barrel of Donkeys have set the bar high, and no doubt we’ll be keeping an eye out for the next project.
Many of you following the One Piece anime may have heard by now that a One Piece special will be airing this weekend in Japan titled One Piece: Episode of Nami. This special episode will be a fully HD version of the Arlong arc from the series early goings. The arc revolves around the back story of the character Nami and her home town’s enslavement at the hands of the villainous human hating fishman Arlong.
The trailer for the One Piece special can be seen below. Fans of the series will surely be able to pick out some of the series most classic moments recreated in the special with glorious HD artwork. Be sure to let us know what you think of it in the comments section.
Hey peeps! Poid Pipper here, and I am feeling for all of you going back to school. I have a little advice for you – “stay as long as you can… cherish it!” The real world is going to bite you in the arse, but that’s only figuratively speaking of course. So while you are studying for that upcoming pop quiz, I have the rundown for the upcoming deals for Xbox Live. Let’s dive in!
Deals Of The Week
Name
Discount Dates
Price
Aug 21 to Aug 27
TNT Racers
400 (50% off)
Faery
600 (50% off)
Crazy Machine Elements
400 (50% off)
Dead Block
400 (50% off)
Dead Block – More Dead to Block Map Pack
120 (50% off)
Skydrift
600 (50% off)
Skydrift – Extreme Fighters Pack
80 (50% off)
Skydrift – Gladiator Pack
200 (50% off)
Ubisoft
Aug 28 to Sept 3
Assassin’s Creed Revelations Ancestors Character Pack
Kinect Central- Forza Motorsport 4 May TopGear Car Pack
Aug 21 to Aug 27
280 (50% off)
Kinect Central – The Gunstringer: El Diablo’s ‘Merican Adventure
Aug 28 to Sept 3
120 (50% off)
Rockstar Publisher Sale
Aug 28 to Sept 3
Up to 50% off
New Releases
Resident Evil: ORC makes its way to Games on Demand. Not a bad game to get for a virtual download.
Here are the new releases from August 21st to August 29th.
Name
Release Date
Microsoft Points
(Games)
Counter Strike: Global Offensive
22-Aug
1200
JOJO’s Bizarre Adventure HD
22-Aug
1600
Rock Band Blitz
29-Aug
1200
(Games Add-ons)
Mass Effect 3: Leviathan
28-Aug
800
(Games on Demand)
Left 4 Dead
21-Aug
Ratatouille
21-Aug
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
21-Aug
Metal Gear Solid HD
21-Aug
What a way to start off the brand spanking new school year! Crazy Machines Elements will sure have your brain all fried before even beginning your classes. And if teachers want you to have good hand-eye coordination, they should purchase you Skydrift during its discounted period! Better than tossing paper airplanes around in the classroom – just saying.
Thanks everyone for tuning in again for another chapter of Xbox Live News with Pipper. Go practice your flash cards, and always remember to “Play Hard or Don’t Play At All!”
Australian Ford fans got the chance to design a new Transformers character (sorry Holden lovers), voting on the colour, make, and name of the new character while an art team over at High Moon Studios brought it to life and presented the concept as a quite worthy Transformer.
With the help of thousands of fans of the Ford Australia and Ford Falcon Facebook pages it was decided that the new Transformer would be Ford Blue, obviously, with the classic and super sexy XR6 Turbo Sedan, and that he would be named Falcatron. Originality was a little lacking in the name choice perhaps, but hey you can totally see where they got the name from. The fans also decided that Falcatron would side with the Autobots, making him a good guy.
Think you could do better? Well Transformers: Fall of Cybertron lets you create your own character, with the most advanced customization ever experienced in a Transformers game, and use that character to have it out in head-to-head Autobot vs Decepticon matches in competitive multiplayer mode.
Kung Fu Strike: The Warrior’s Rise Publisher: 7Sixty Developer: QOOCsoft Platforms: XBLA (reviewed), PC Release Date: September 5, 2012 (XBLA); June 12, 2012 (PC) Price: 800 MSP – Starting Sept. 5th (XBLA)
Overview
When diving headfirst into a new game, I feel it is important to learn something from a title to make it memorable. Kung Fu Strike brought baos, a vegetable or meat filled bun, into my life. And now I know of an unique Chinese pastry dish that can be a hearty meal. Interesting enough this is the first brawler game that has invoked hunger for pastries as well as increased my personal health bar. Let’s take a look and see if Kung Fu Strike can sate more than just my hunger.
Story
A three pronged war had begun with the Tian empire, the northern country of Shaa, and Tian rebel forces. All have been consumed by hatred for one another and no lines of peace can surface without the crumbling of the others army. General Loh has set out to acquire an outpost at the Talin Temple but his arrival is met with heavy resistance. Upon reaching Master Mo, Loh discovers that his destiny lies elsewhere rather than taking on the forces of Shaa. Deception is corrupting the Tian empire, but who is behind it all?
Rather than experiencing long, drawn out cut-scenes, Kung Fu Strike is able to present the story effectively at each stage interval. Before every stage, a brief interlude explains Loh’s objective and purpose to excavate the area. With consistent stream of active storytelling, the message is apparent and melds with the current setting and characters involved.
Gameplay
Let’s start off with the basics. General Loh has two basic forms of attack – (X) normal and (A) jump attack. Holding the normal attack down will cause Loh to create a spinning combo that will continue to unleash damage until interrupted. Using his normal attack in junction with his jump attack will keep Loh in the air for a longer period of time performing aerial punches and face stomping kicks. Beyond attacking foes, Loh is able to stop most incoming attacks with his deflect move (B). Deflecting attacks can be difficult at times due to enemy difficulty. However, learning key moments to deflect is crucial in order to advance in the story. Certain moves cannot be deflected such as leg sweeps or potentially lethal special boss attacks. This is when Loh’s evading maneuvers particularly come in handy. His first evasion maneuver is readily available at the start of the game by using the right trigger. His evasive move allows him to make quick roll preferably out of reach of the incoming attack.
General Loh can build up a large amounts of chi during his battles which can be released in forms of special attacks. As his chi meter builds up, Loh will be able to enough into a chi slot which will allow him to utilize a special move. By pressing (X) and (A) at the same time, Loh will unleash a special move that is a high momentum kick that will knock an opponent across the screen. Other moves can be acquired during his journey and then purchased in the pre-mission lobby.
During the campaign, you will be able to pick up a wide range of items. Money, baos, and chi elixirs are the most commonly dropped items. Baos will increase your health during the current mission. A single baos will increase your health by a small portion, but a large plate of baos will heal your health bar most of the way. Chi elixirs can help you immensely in a fight by providing quick access to your special move list. If all of your chi slots are being used, you will not be able to pick up the elixir – great thinking on the developer’s part. Lastly, money will help you throughout the stages by being able to purchase new items to wear as well as purchase new skills.
Loh’s equipment consists of two open slots for gear and one slot saved for a fighting style. One such available gear from the get-go is called the “Herb of Life” which will resurrect Loh from death to 200 health points. Eventually, you will be able to upgrade this gear piece to heal more upon death. Other gear could include the “Wonder Coat” which reduces all incoming projectiles and explosions by 25%. Thus, knowing your stage becomes increasingly important when dealing with explosions or dart throwing damsels. The third slot is saved for your fighting style. Your starting style is “Lightning Fist” which delivers fast blows with fist attacks. After defeating the game through, I was able to pick up “Lightning Kick” which delivers some deadly kicks to opposing faces. The main difference lies in only the style, but a subtle difference can be seen with a combination of the feet based style and gear “Light Boots” as it delivers even faster air attacks.
Even with tremendous strength, Loh may be unable to utilize crowd control to dispatch hordes of enemies entering the fray. To deal with this, Loh can unleash his own bodyguards for a slight cost in coin. Through your battles, different army pick-ups are made available for Loh to unleash and are increasingly more expensive. One of the more costly summons is the skilled swordsman at 350 gold pieces – who happens to be a boss in the game. One deterring aspect to keep in mind is once you have spent your money on recruits be sure to win because the money you spent will not come back.
Tactics are ever changing in this game which makes Kung Fu Strike hard even in its easiest difficulty. If you are not playing with an “Herb of Life” – you should be, reflecting attacks becomes very important. After parrying a target, the enemy will be enveloped in a green hue. (HINT) – This means you are able to steal life from this target now. Another aspect that took me a little while to understand was when a boss turned glowed with a red hue. The red offers more than one opportunity for both player and enemy. During these moments, the boss may have a chance to unleash a special move that can do damage and drain your life essence. Obviously that is not good for the cause of winning. To counteract the move, it is possible to unleash a special attack on the boss with red hue to cause a critical strike! Once you have accomplished this the enemy will take plenty of damage and be vulnerable for subsequent attacks. (HINT) – Save up your chi slots so more than one special attack can be performed.
Boss battles can occur at any moment and becomes apparent at the very start of the game. While General Loh wishes to meet leader of the temple, its guardians are not willing to let just anyone enter. As the minor defendants of the temple dwindle down, a large behemoth drops in for some not so gentle smashing. I would consider these combatants as minor bosses due to their repeated occurrences throughout the campaign. The major bosses have more pronounced abilities like those of Master Mo. He produces an entrapping circle near his body that will deliver a special attack to Loh if he passes through it. Environments that contain major bosses can also change in time due in accordance to the boss’s health. Minor enemies might join the battle or even the perspective can change because of the increased/decreased attackers.
Modes of difficulty can be very deceiving to the untrained combatant. I tend to try just about any game on normal to test the waters before I dive into a higher difficulty. Kung Fu Strike made me alter my normal transition, and I found myself losing some stages on easy. Dedication and perseverance pulled my beaten carcass through with a “D” ranking managing to complete the campaign. As mentioned on the official website, this game is not for the faint of heart.
If you found the game too challenging, there is an option for a two player co-op campaign. However, playing as two similar characters poses as a problem itself. Occasionally, you will become lost in the environment or torn across the screen from your teammate. Additionally, the second player’s progress, statistics, scores, and achievements will not be recorded. Beyond the negatives of co-op campaign are the advantages such as using combined attacks to defeat your foes. When a boss is showing the red hue, your partner could first a special attack then follow up with your own creating devastating amounts of damage. You will be clearing levels faster and potentially gaining better ranks. And the obvious plus is that you are playing with a friend.
Once the single or co-op campaign has been completed, two players can face each other in versus mode. Only four arenas are available for battle with specific game modes for each. This greatly reduces custom versus play and restricts players to a limited selection of arenas. Only one arena is set for a bomb match where a player can utilize falling bombs to damage the opponent rather than actual combat. Two arenas have breakable vases that withhold certain ally forces. The first person to break the vase will gain a specific force but can lose the unit if the opponent knocks it out. Taking out an opponents allied unit will cause that unit to switch sides and attack on your own behalf. I found a minor glitch where upon losing a unit to the opposing force the unit became invisible. After killing the invisible unit it returned to normal and did not present the glitch again.
Visual / Audio
Each level enters with a short comic strip pasted on an ancient scroll. Alluring would best describe the animated comic as you are cautiously waiting to see what new forces you will encounter in the story. The attentiveness brings the comic strip to life as it is an ingenious way to invigorate the story’s emotions before a level commences.
The artistic tastes of Kung Fu Strike are different than most games. Drawing from the designs of Chinese folklore and calligraphy, the environments emphasize the beauty of an ancient culture by traveling to temples, rooftops, and treasure guarded dungeons. Even the special effects are vividly noticeable with almost dark ink blotches moving from fist to foot contact. If the screen turns to redness, you know something is going to happen!
Sound effects spark more intensity into brawler type games rather than music as far as audio is concerned. When you are playing this type of genre, you want to hear each and every contact. And so this title delivers with loads of sound effects from insignificant grunts to breaking glass on critical hits. The music played during the credits and game entrance are just bonuses to plentiful amounts of sound effects.
Overall
So we learned that baos can be a delicious meal. That alone won’t make this a great game to play. However, the campaign offers a plethora of challenges and ranks to attain that will keep a perfectionist on his/her toes for a bit. Beating the game through once will not garner all the goodies that you would desire. Even a co-op campaign is available for added help on those increasingly hard missions.
Well, if the food is good then what faults does the game have? For one, the difficulty does not deter me from playing this title, but I can foresee the ones with the “faint of heart” purchasing this title and walk away hours later feeling defeated. Even the developers warn the public about easy being fairly difficult to complete on some missions. While there isn’t an online multiplayer, there should be one. The offline versus seems relatively useless beyond training yourself with a newly acquired skill. Allowing to play as the minor bosses could be an interesting concept for online matches. One more negative feature is the following camera once the perspective changes during a match. Changing views when hitting a corner can be quite confusing when a boss is planning a special attack.
Kung Fu Strike acquires some bonus points for two additional reasons. During the credit roll, you can actually continue to play as your character fighting off foes until the credits run out. And when you are loading for a new level, you can see two men in the bottom right corner of the screen with (X) and (A) appearing next to them. Interesting enough if you hit those buttons the person on the left will make and attack on the other. Neat little bonuses to enjoy while you wait for the game to load.
Australian Ford fans got the chance to design a new Transformers character (sorry Holden lovers), voting on the colour, make, and name of the new character while an art team over at High Moon Studios brought it to life and presented the concept as a quite worthy Transformer.
