If for whatever reason you didn’t like the simple yet elegant box art that Dead or Alive 5 featured before, then you will be happy to hear that the box art has been changed and today Tecmo Koei revealed the finalized box art for the title. The final box art can be seen to the right and is clickable for those who want to see it in super hi-def. It is interesting to see that the female characters take the foreground though the lack of Hitomi is saddening.
To go along with the release of the game’s final box art, Tecmo Koei also released the final package of the Dead or Alive 5 Collector’s Edition which can be seen below. As with the box art, those who wish to see an extra large version of the collector’s edition need only click the picture. For those who don’t know, Dead or Alive 5’s Collector’s Edition will contain a steel book case, a soundtrack CD, the game itself of course, a Kasumi poster, a voucher for both Swimsuit costume packages, one of which can be seen here, and even a hardcover art book.
We’ve heard that there will be some bunny swimsuit costumes given out for those who happen to pre-order Dead or Alive 5 from GameStop in North America but we haven’t actually seen what these sexy costumes are going to look like. Well you can go ahead and let your jaw drop when you check out the “DOA” Angels” swimwear below, both in screenshot form and in the trailer below those.
The costumes shown off are for Hitomi, Kasumi and Leifang. Currently it is unknown what the “DOA Devils” swimsuits will look like, which those who pre-order from Amazon will receive. Though we can expect some stunning footage of that within the coming weeks. It is worth noting that the game’s collector’s edition will include both pieces of swimsuit DLC to double the fun.
Wreckateer Developer:Iron Galaxy Publisher:Microsoft Studios Release Date:June 25, 2012 Price: 800 MSP – Available Here
Overview: Using a slingshot or a catapult to destroy a castle, fortress or any other number of structure is nothing new. In fact the concept of creating a game out of these simple mechanics has been around since the ‘90s and probably even before that. However in recent years a certain game with furious fowls has popularized the concept and has become something that nearly everyone you talk to has heard about.
However what happens when you take the capabilities of a home console and Microsoft’s special motion control peripheral, the Kinect, and create a game involving a ballista and things to destroy? Well you get Iron Galaxy’s Wreckateer is what. Does this combination of motion control and destruction create an enthralling experience or another Kinect mishap?
Story: In what appears to be the middle ages, two guys named Wreck and Tinker happen to be the kingdom’s wrecking crew. These two guys have been tasked with building ballistas and then using them to literally destroy various castles and buildings around the kingdom. It seems that it may take more than two guys to destroy things however, as these two have taken in a new apprentice to help them with their wrecking and this apprentice happens to be you.
No sooner do you become their apprentice wrecker than a massive goblin invasion has occurred. Now these goblins have settled down in castles, forts, holds towers, bridges and other things all over the kingdom and the only way to rid these buildings of their goblin infestations is to completely wreck them until there is practically nothing left besides the foundation. Ultimately the storyline is pretty much just there to create a reason for buildings to be destroyed by a ballista and little else.
Visuals & Audio: Wreckateer is a neat little title that features some nice stylized visuals that are a bit cartoonish in nature. Players will be spending their time in the game as their own Avatar while the rest of the characters seen are also cartoonish in nature, especially the goblins you will be shooting at which sometimes even wear things like bunny ears. The structures and the environments are well varied and keep things fresh and interesting.
As for the game’s background music and sound effects, they are suitable at best although the background music is nothing noteworthy. Although a bit sparse, the Wreckateer’s voice acting is fitting considering the title’s setting which makes it also suitable and even a little bit funny at the same time.
Gameplay: To play Wreckateer players will only be able to use the Kinect, which actually turns out to be quite responsive and accurate with its readings. Players will make their way through a moderately large amount of levels, each one requiring the player to at least earn a Bronze medal or better with a certain number of shots.
Players gain points by destroying various buildings, hitting special shields or performing special actions during a shot and these points can then be multiplied by how much of a level has been destroyed. This also means that those aiming for high scores may want to aim for high destruction and low point value targets early, to ensure that later shots take advantage of the increased multiplier, offering players a chance to compete against their friends and even beat Wreck Wreckington’s score. Any misfired shots can be retried with a mulligan by raising your left arm, or even restarting the level with your right arm. This means that many perfectionist players can continually strive for Gold medals and retry levels until they manage to obtain one.
Now to play Wreckateer players need to simply step forward towards the ballista and move their hands forward as if they were grabbing the drawstring. Aiming is simply performed by moving left or right and raising your arms up and down while players can adjust the distance of their shots by moving backwards to draw the strings as taught as required. Then players will need to simply move their arms out to the sides to fire. Thankfully, as mentioned earlier, this all works wonderfully well thanks to the Kinect’s accurate motion tracking.
Now once a shot is fired there are various methods of control depending on what type of shot it is. Nearly all shots will allow the player to slightly adjust the path of the boulder with their “magic gauntlets.” It is worth noting that there are a number of different variations however, such as an explosive shot which will detonate when you raise both arms straight up, a split shot that separates into four smaller boulders that stay between your two gauntlets, allowing for some spectacularly widespread damage and the flying shot which allows the player to take full control over the shot, steering the shot by pretty much pretending to be an airplane.
There are six different shot types within Wreckateer and each one of them is well thought out, although nearly all of them contain a striking resemblance to other games of the genre. Out of all of these shots however, the flying shot is perhaps the most enjoyable to use simply due to the amount of control one is able to have over the shot’s flight path and more.
Overall: Despite the Kinect having a very rough time with games lately, it seems that Wreckateer may just make you dust off that sensor and make use of it once again. With accurate motion tracking, fun gameplay and sixty levels to advance through and try to beat out their friends’ scores, Wreckateer offers what may be the most enjoyable Kinect experience in the past six months.
Last Half of Darkness: Society of the Serpent Moon Publisher: WRF Studios Developer: Iceberg Interactive Platforms: PC Release Date: May 25, 2012 Price: $19.99 – DVD; $19.99 – Download
Overview
Iceberg Interactive has already created a trilogy of the Last Half of Darkness with the following titles: Shadows of the Servants, Beyond the Spirit’s Eye, and Tomb of Zojir. Now, they add an additional chapter to the mix with Society of the Serpent Moon. Having established a community for their murder mysteries, Iceberg Interactive has accomplished creating a thrilling atmosphere that brings point-and-click puzzlers back for more.
Story
A small french town called Antibes has been plagued by mysterious murders, and those that begin to ask too many questions end up missing as well. Investigating these strange happenings is your fiancee, Wendy. After a brief and disturbing meeting with Bruce – owner of the Blue Iguana nightclub, she anticipates herself to become the next victim. Withholding important information, Wendy sends you a package containing a booklet and a strange disk. However, when you receive the package from Antibes, you find find it contains an additional item – a bloodstained engagement ring…
As Billy Black, a non-conventional investigator, your adventure begins by arriving at the motel where Wendy had been staying. Hardly anything works in the joint, and expect to receive less than a warming welcome from the motel manager. That’s if the manager is anywhere to be found. Letting yourself into Wendy’s room proves you have even more to worry about. When shadows begin to move and snakes populate the city as much as the villagers, you will believe that the town is in need of extermination.
After learning of a dark cult using young women for sacrifices to their leading witch, Antibes begins to reach beyond strange. Will Billy get to save his fiancee in time or struggle with his own sanity? Here lies another chapter in “The Last Half of Darkness”.
Gameplay
Let’s first speak about what Society of the Serpent Moon does well. Creation of the murder mystery atmosphere is apparent as soon as the first room is entered. The eerie feeling of desertion and minimal light provides an even greater experience while playing in the dark. Moving shadows, decaying bodies, and vicious snake bites build the deadly landscape that is Antibes.
Collecting items becomes your main access for resources to unlock puzzles and new areas of the map. Perhaps a menacing dog is blocking your entrance to a room. Finding an item that could distract the dog may help in gaining access to the room. In some cases, items can be combined with one another to create an unique tool that could be used to open a lock or even rappel down a cliff. A prime example of using a tool to access a puzzle is of the screwdriver opening the electric console of the ice machine. After opening the console, you will have to use the correct combination of circuits to make the machine work.
Another interesting and innovative part of the gameplay is the use of outside materials for game clues. Remember that Wendy sent the “booklet and disk” to Billy? Well, the booklet is actually part of the manual, and the disk she sent is the actual DVD to play the game. Forcing the player to read the manual and making notes about the DVD is a creative tool to involve outside interaction.
What game isn’t complete without a list a bugs accompanying it? While playing Society of the Serpent Moon I have noticed some major and minor issues that will affect your time playing. One glaring issue occurs when switching utilities using ALT-TAB. After shifting to the desktop the active game cannot be reloaded and results with a fatal error exiting the game completely. Another major issue can be seen upon reaching the mine. By using the TAB key, you are able to see all exiting points. Just before the collapsed section is an area that should only have two exit points – there are three. Accidentally clicking the non-exit point will cause Billy to become stuck and unable to move. You will need to load a prior save game in order exit this situation.
Not posing a huge struggle or disappointment is the Raven’s Hunt chest game. The chest holds a locking mechanism that can only be released by acquiring 2,000 points in Raven’s Hunt. A simple bug that had not been fixed during the game’s release is the reset function. The rules stipulate that resetting the board to acquire a new distribution of snakes/ravens will cost the player 100 points per reset. After applying the reset the 100 points were not taken away, and the player is left with unlimited amount of resets. This bug allows players an easier time to finish the chest requirement of 2,000 points regardless of the difficulty of the game.
Encountering lag in a point-and-click title does not bode well for the player. Several moments during gameplay I noticed Billy walking in slow motion towards the intended target. Luckily, Iceberg Interactive incorporated a double-click function that automatically utilizes the exit point for fast travel. However, discovering an area for the first time can be grudgingly awful when combined with lagging movement.
Visuals / Audio
Perhaps one of the best attributes of the title are the artistic environments. Spanning from the deserted streets of a small French town to the inner workings of a cultist temple, the environments are deceivingly detailed. You will leave no crook, cranny, nor dog bowl untouched in this game! While the deception is a pleasant aspect, you will undoubtedly thoroughly search each level for objects or clues to solve puzzles.
The quality in visuals and audio begin to decline when the animated cut scenes are present. Too often have I encountered game’s that presented “close enough” model to voice animations, and Society of the Serpent Moon invokes this readily. I understand that animation is a tedious job, but the end result should leave a satisfactory combination of vocals and oral movements that doesn’t distract the audience.
During the initial chapter I began laughing after hearing the voice acting of Billy Black. I felt as though Christian Bale had entered the room in a Batman costume demanding, “Where’s Wendy Joker!?” Regardless, the raspy voice doesn’t deter from gameplay and added a comical factor. On the other hand, ghostly characters can be hard to decipher. Combining subtitle text with vocals helps tremendously during these moments.
Overall
Society of the Serpent Moon has potential by delivering amazingly detailed environments and intensifying atmosphere. However, the effectiveness of these attributes are drawn away by incomplete game mechanics and animation quality. What remains is a satisfactory game that has several kinks to be worked out until it can be fully enjoyed.
Dedicated fans that have experienced the Last Half of Darkness trilogy should enjoy this new chapter of the franchise. Others that frequent point-and-click adventures can test out the demo (here).
Knytt Underground is the follow up to the 2006 colorful platformer game Knytt and the other platformer game Knytt Stories which was developed by Nicklas “Niffalis” Nygren.
This sequel to the previous games brings them to somewhere they have never gone before, consoles (That is if you don’t count the home made port of Knytt Stories on the Nintendo DS.) The game will be releasing exclusively first on the Playstation 3 and the PS Vita but the game will later release on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Nifflas is developing the new platformer with the studio Green Hill, allowing for “the biggest game I ever developed,” he said. Knytt Underground is also “the first game where I feel that I have a story to tell. It’s about the big questions, about trying to understand life and our place in it and failing completely.”
The release date for Knytt Underground has not been unveiled yet. We’ll keep you updated once we have more information on the game.
It looks like director John Moore has been discussing the upcoming sequel to the hit franchise Die Hard. In the interview he had with the people over at Empire, he revealed that there is an epic car chase in the movie that took a little over 2 months to shoot.
In A Good Day to Die Hard, you see the lead character John McClane (Bruce Willis) journey to Russia where he has to rescue his son. Moore later spilled some environment details about the film saying:
“The scope goes from New York to Moscow. It’s very, very international. There’s a car chase through Moscow that’s taking us 78 days to shoot.”
When they got to the subject of the tone of the film, John Moore said that he won’t be trying to make the franchise a comedy but there will be some gags and a few McClanisms. He later went on and made a joke saying that this isn’t Carry on Die Hard.
A Good Day to Die Hard releases in theaters on February 14, 2013.
Popular iOS game, Road to Rome, now has a follow up – Road to Rome 2. The game has already been released on PC, topping charts on game portals like Yahoo! Games and Big Fish Games, and winning awards like Best Simulation Game Award at Gamehouse Great Game Awards 2011. But now, the title comes to iOS. To celebrate the release, the game will be a whopping 50% off for a limited time.
Road to Rome 2 features more than 40 challenging levels, four episodes, beautiful graphics and animations, and a well-balanced gameplay. Don’t believe the hype? Well check out the trailer below, or visit the iTunes page here to get a discounted copy of Road to Rome 2.
Released way back in 1998, Neo Geo classic, Blazing Star is making a come back. Thanks to SNK Playmore, the game has been released on both iPhone and Android. Blazing Star is more than just a port, it features not only classic arcade mode, but also mission mode, which allows players to select the stage they want to play in. This allows players to train themselves to beat those difficult stages, or just enjoy their favourites. Players can also choose from a total of six spaceships with various strengths.
Alongside main mission game mode, there is also a multiplayer function that can be utilised via Bluetooth. Network functions allow you to compete with the best scores all around the world. Blazing Star was released for both iPhone and Android on July 26, costing a mere $2.99 on both platforms. For more info check out the trailer below, or you can visit the SNK Playermore website, or Blazing Star website by following the links.
This is for all of you little monsters out there. It looks like the famous pop star Lady Gaga will be making her cinema debut in Robert Rodriguez’s upcoming movie, Machete Kills. She will be playing the role of La Chameleon and her role won’t just be some sitting role, she is in the action.
The following quote from a tweet by Rodriguez:
I just finished working with @LadyGaga on @MacheteKills , she kicked SO MUCH ASS! Holy Smokes. Blown away!
The film is still currently in production and will feature actors such as: Mel Gibson and Charlie Sheen. All the Danny Trejo fans have nothing to worry about because he will be returning and will be taking the role of title character for the sequel.
For those of you who don’t know what exactly Machete is, it is about a man who was set up and betrayed by the man who hired him to assassinate the Texas Senator, an ex-Federal launches a brutal rampage of revenge against his former boss.
The latest MMORPG set in the Digimon franchise, Digimon Masters, has just launched it’s latest in-game event: The Summer Festivals. The current festival appears to be Olympic themed in that players will be required to head to the Data Center and talk to Mudfrigimon to begin a new career in Digimon themed sports.
Players will be able to earn medals for doing well in these sports events and they can be traded in for various new items. Prizes include: Costumes, Avatar Boxes, and a whole bunch more. players will also be competing for 80 MVP positions that will give access to special prizes like Reinforced Digi-Eggs and Evoluters.
Also joining the game are some new mercenary Digimon and a new experience modifier for the duration of the event. The new mercenary Digimon is Betamon and the first 5 players to level him up will receive a bunch of rare items, which includes the incredibly rare Kudamon Digi-egg.
