EA has released a new video to walk players though their new SimCity spin-off Facebook game SimCity Social which is set to launch in a couple of weeks time.
The new video guides players though the browser game and gives us a tastes of just what to expect. SimCity Social Producer Pete Lake, shows us a few gameplay features as well as a few tips and tricks.
For anyone that’s played The Sims Social will feel right at home here, both games feature similar interfaces. Players can visit their friend’s cities, deliver gifts and receive bonus by interacting with their friend’s buildings.
Lollipop Chainsaw Developer:Grasshopper Manufacture Publisher:Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Platforms:PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (Reviewed) Release Date:June 12, 2012 Price: $59.99 – Available Here
Overview: Suda51 has been known for making some very unique and sometimes strange games in the past and now that he is the CEO of Grasshopper Manufacture he has been able to release a number of his titles to the world and one of these just happens to be Lollipop Chainsaw. Originally revealed last year it was extremely questionable whether or not the title would actually appear overseas until Warner Bros. stepped in to bring this unique title to North American shores. Can a title as quirky as Lollipop Chainsaw provide an enjoyable experience? You betcha but read on to find out more.
Story: Juliet Starling is a high school cheerleader at San Romero High School who wakes up on the day of her birthday ready to celebrate it with her friends in school and her boyfriend Nick. Her bubbly personality and love of lollipops has made her quite popular in school but she has one secret that no one knows about, and that is the fact that she is a zombie hunter. In the end this turns out to be a good thing however because on her way to school she finds that her whole city has become infested with the undead.
At her disposal she carries her two yellow pom poms and a large wicked (and sparkly) chainsaw that she uses to tear apart the zombies in her way. Unfortunately for her she finds her boyfriend a bit too late as he was bitten by a zombie. Now Lollipop Chainsaw is a game that practically takes nothing seriously so it only takes a few seconds for Juliet to decide that the best way to save her boyfriend Is to cut his head off with her chainsaw and strap him to her hip so he can bounce against her butt. With her boyfriend/fashion accessory in tow Juliet must find the reason for the zombies and put a stop to it, even if she has to battle against Viking drummers, zombie hippies and more.
Lollipop Chainsaw is a wild ride that never slows down for a moment. You have to give credit to a game that will literally never have you guessing what will happen next simply because everything that happens is absolutely outrageous. Juliet herself is hyper sexualized as she runs around in a number of tiny skirts and her peppy attitude never falters, though she seems relatively normal compared to the rest of her family who also happen to be zombie hunters.
It is unfortunate that the game’s storyline is relatively short in length however, as players will likely be able to finish each stage and complete the game in around six hours. However while the game’s storyline may be a bit on the shorter side, there are a multitude of unlockables, high scores to beat and collectables to find. All of these potential unlockables make Lollipop Chainsaw a title that is literally begging to be replayed more than a few times.
Visuals: As far as colors go, Lollipop Chainsaw has a literal rainbow of colors that can be displayed on screen at any time. There are a number of times Juliet will literally make rainbows appear in the air (alongside gushing blood of course) as she slices through zombies with fluid combo attacks.. The world itself is bright and colorful and each stage is unique and full of different features. The zombies themselves are usually designed to match the stage though they tend to be a bit bland after a while, though the Dark Purbeyors (bosses) are wonderfully designed.
Juliet herself is of course, smoking in appearances and players can unlock a number of costumes to change her into, with some later costumes capable of changing her appearance and hair color entirely. Now while Lollipop Chainsaw may be beautiful to watch, there are a number of hiccups as well as I experienced a number of texture pop-in issues with certain zombies and fell through the floor twice, resulting in the restarting of a checkpoint, though this was thankfully not a common occurrence.
Audio: All in all Lollipop Chainsaw earns its M-rating through dialogue alone as the Starling family and the zombies themselves are willing to curse and make blatant sexual references all throughout the game. Ironically given the way that Lollipop Chainsaw was designed, none of this feels out of place and the cast of characters themselves are well voiced by enthusiastic sounding voice actors.
As for the game’s background music, you can literally take your pick. Players will unlock various pieces of BGM as they make their way through the game and can swap out songs they prefer and boy are there a lot of songs to choose from. There are pieces of music that were originally created for the game as well as a large number of licensed songs ranging from classics such as the ever prominent “Mickey” and “Lollipop” to hard rock songs such as “The Way of the Fist” and “Heroes of our Time.”
Gameplay: At its core Lollipop Chainsaw is a simple third-person beat ‘em up game, with players taking out waves of different zombies with Juliet’s chainsaw and pom pom attacks. Juliet will use her pom poms often to deal out small amounts of damage as well as stun zombies into a groggy state, which makes them instantly killable with one swing from Juliet’s fancy chainsaw. Nearly all zombies must be dispatched with Juliet’s chainsaw and those who are able to take out more than three zombies with a single attack will trigger “Sparkle Hunting” which rewards the player with gold and platinum coins depending on how many zombies they killed at once.
Normal zombie kills will usually drop gold coins and players can destroy a number of objects in the environment to discover more gold coins. These “zombie coins” are then used for new attack combos, passive upgrades to Juliet as well as the aforementioned costumes, music and concept artwork. It is worth noting that Lollipop Chainsaw is extremely accessible to even the most fresh faced gamer as Juliet is quite easy to control.
Although she is easy to control, Juliet also possesses a wide variety of attack combinations which range from small button inputs to situational attacks. These combos range from simple to outlandish, with players able to lay out drop kicks, leap frog over enemies and slice them up through the middle or impale crawling zombies with a viscous finishing maneuver.
As the player takes out zombies they will earn stars which begin to fill up a gauge which, when activated, makes Juliet capable of dispatching any zombie (except bosses) with one swing of her deadly chainsaw. Besides this special mode Juliet can also use her boyfriend Nick’s head to perform a number of tricks with the use of Nick Tickets.
Going through each level players will be able to save fellow classmates and take part in various mini-games, though it is unfortunate that some of these minigames can result in a game over if the player is unable to finish them which will damage the player’s all important final score, as well as take on unique and outlandish final bosses called Dark Purveyors.
Interestingly enough, Lollipop Chainsaw contains an ever present score counter which will rack up points depending on how many zombies you kill, how many coins you’ve obtained, clear time and subtract points for deaths. These scores can then be compared to the rest of Juliet’s family, though the final goal is to beat your Dad’s score on each level and unlock a number of extra goodies.
Overall: Lollipop Chainsaw is like no other game on the market today. With a story that is never taken seriously, crazy yet enjoyable combat, pleasing aesthetic, varied soundtrack, a cast of vulgar characters to accentuate the game’s story and ease of playability Lollipop Chainsaw is the best title Suda 51 has put out in years. Some may be a bit disappointed by the game’s lacking length, but a number of unlockables and just sheer enjoyability of the title make it more than worth your time.
Sony has announced today that the first two games in Naughty Dog’s award winning Uncharted Franchise will be available on the Playstation store next week on July 26th. Both games will be available separately for $30 or together for $40. Sony also released a double pack back in September 2011 of the 2 games for $40. So if you’re a fan of physical media, you may want to check out the double pack. The version of Uncharted 2 will be the game of the year edition. So no need to worry about buying all the DLC, though most of the DLC is now free.
What do you think about Uncharted Drakes Fortune, and Uncharted 2 among thieves headed to the Playstation store?
Broken Blade Studio: Production L.G, Xebec Publisher:Madman Format: Blu-Ray (Reviewed), DvD Release Date: May 25, 2012 Price: BD $64.95 (Buy Here), DvD $59.95 (Buy Here)
Overview
In Cruzon, children are born with the ability to control quartz. This power allows them to levitate simple objects – or control enormous and complex mobile battle suits called Golems. This is the way that the publishers of the show would describe the premise of Broken Blade. At a very basic level, this is what the world presented in Broken Blade is, however, as you watch the series, you find that there is a much deeper and more intricate story at work.
The series is also rather unique in that it contains eight episodes that are 55 minutes a piece. Does this harm the series or enhance it? Find out by reading on.
Story
After reading the series’ premise, you’d probably think that this was a series about a group of teenage mecha pilots whop fly around and beat the crap out of other teenaged mecha pilots with some silly reason tacked on to the end to make the whole mechas fighting each other scenario plausible. If you did, then you had the same thoughts as I did going into the series. However, as I learned after watching it, this is not the case.
The story is actually about a group of young adults, raised in this world where this quartz manipulation magic is an every day part of their lives. However, one of the main characters is unable to harness this magic and is heavily shunned by society. Fortunately, thanks to the friendships he’s made earlier in his life, he has very close ties to the current royal family of his land. Unfortunately for the main characters, their best friend is from another land and he is cast as the main villain for the first few episodes. This gives the story a much more personal touch to it and significantly enhances the experience.
Of course, as a mecha series, the main concepts behind this series are war and the mechas themselves. In Broken Blade, the main character is unable to wield quartz magic and as a result he is recruited by his friend, the King, to try and pilot an ancient Golem that is probably built to withstand the efforts of quartz-magicians trying to pilot it. Over the course of the series, we watch as the lead character gets better as a pilot, as well as how constant battles with characters that were once friends affects the cast.
There are also a few interesting plot developments that happen over the course of the series, but delving too far into them would kill the drama. One thing that you have to be aware of is that each episode is almost an hour in length, but it never feels like it. Marathon at your own risk.
Visuals
Visually, Broken Blade is really good in some aspects, but isn’t as good in others. For example, some of the Golems look incredibly plain and generic, while others looks absolutely stunning. While this kind of inconsistency doesn’t degrade the series too much, it can sometimes be a little strange to see two different amounts of effort placed side-by-side. This is often the case with the CGI.
Now, I know that a lot of anime have been using CGI to animate objects for a while now, even though they used to only really be for effects. It is fine when done properly, but a lot series do it wrong. Broken Blade somehow does it both right and wrong. I am often reminded of how the quartz effects and sometimes the combat is handled with the CGI and it turns out really well. However there some other moments where I feel that it detracts from the scene, particularly when the 3D is placed next to 2D elements.
One of the greatest things about Broken Blade is its character designs. When I initially began watching the series, I thought that the character designer was Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, because a lot of the facial structures are very reminiscent of his work on Evangelion. However, I was surprised when I read that it was actually Takushige Norita who had designed the characters. I am now a fan of this guys character designs because of the way he designes his characters. Anything that reminds me of Evangelion is a plus in my book.
Audio
Upon writing this review, I can’t say that I can recall much about the Broken Blade soundtrack. I’ll regard this as a bad thing as a series with a memorable soundtrack is a series that is a memorable series. I mean, how many of you would regard Evangelion as highly if it had a generic techno/synth-rock soundtrack? What if Cowboy Bebop had an orchestral soundtrack as opposed to the Jazz?
Unfortunately, Broken Blade does not really have that kind of unique soundtrack to call its own. I feel that the show could have been greatly enhanced if it had the same amount of attention paid to its audio as it had on its visuals and story. Broken Blade does, however, have an awesome and fitting opening and ending song. I suggest you check those out ASAP.
Extras
Broken Blade, as a package, is very light on Extras. The package itself has a cleaner cover on the inside, I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be reversable or not, the packaging doesn’t say, but it does have some very nice artwork on it. The package also includes textless opening themes and trailers. This is incredibly bare-bones, but having less features doesn’t really detract from the experience at all.
Overall
Broken Blade is a worthwhile purchase, particularly on Blu-Ray, for any and all Anime fans out there. The character designs are wonderful, the opening and ending themes are fantastic and the story is fairly interesting. It goes beyond the whole teenage-angst giant robot beating up on a giant robot rhomp that we’ve come to expect from the genre and as a result Broken Blade has only benefited. Be sure to pick this show up, or if you can;t, at least try and find a rental somewhere.
Gameloft releases a new entry in the Asphalt series with about as much frequency as Activision with Call of Duty. Some call that kind of release schedule cashing in, but when Asphalt 7: Heat delivers on every level you’d expect from a handheld racing game, then there’s not much to do but praise the game.
Well, that, and thank your lucky stars that unlike its previously noted console comparison it provides more value than your average morning cup of coffee.
Gameplay
Asphalt 7: Heat provides everything you’d expect from a console-released racing game.
Career mode features thirteen cups, each with several races each, and each cup is unlocked through use of a star system familiar to anyone who’s played recent iOS games: each race gives one, two, and three star challenges. Once these are accomplished, the stars are used as a form of in-game currency to unlock more races, and then the cycle repeats itself ad infinitum. These career races include various modes: drifting challenges, races against the clock, forcing other players to crash, and the like.
There’s also in-game dollars to be earned via in-race pick ups and simply by completing the races themselves. This cash can then be spent on upgrading your car and purchasing new vehicles (including an unlockable DeLorean. Yes, that DeLorean). The upgrades, though useful, were generally a waste of cash however, and that ties in to the game’s controls.
You see, Asphalt 7 is not difficult, and the default controls only make this point clearer. Acceleration is automatic – all you have to do is tilt your iDevice for steering controls and tap the screen for a nitrous boost. Railing along most of the tracks in the game doesn’t really help with the lack of challenge, either.
But aside from making upgrades obsolete, the lack of true difficulty is something that will annoy, but not hamper the experience, especially as you unlock more advanced cups. Besides, who wants to be maniacally tilting a phone during their morning commute on the train?
For those who require a more hands-on approach to controlling the minutiae of racing, the other control schemes included make good use of the touch-screen on even an iPhone: the buttons are cleverly placed so as to never obstruct truly vital screen space.
Asphalt 7 also features a robust multiplayer suite, both online and on local Bluetooth, with races capable of handling up to six people over fifteen different tracks. Results in both career mode and multiplayer can be shared via Asphalt Tracker, so you and your friends can engage in not-so-friendly competition.
For those looking for just a quick fix of Asphalt, there’s also a Quick Race mode that zooms you right into the action.
As an arcade racing game, Asphalt 7: Heat provides what you’d expect from a full-price retail racing game, minus some shines and baubles, and plays well enough to keep you interested well beyond your 99 cents’ worth.
Audio & Visual
Asphalt 7: Heat‘s presentation is outstanding.
The graphic’s engine got quite a lot out of the Retina display of even my ageing iPhone 4, and the occasional frame rate hiccup didn’t distract from the experience at all. Sunlight flares as you speed over hills, the varying real-world locations look stunning, and the cars themselves look great. The only complaint you could levy at the visuals is that car damage is not shown on your vehicle, so you’ll have no idea how close you are to getting wrecked.
The audio suite is also impressive. The track to most of the game features electro that sounds as clear as can get. However, if that genre of music does to you what it does to me (generally my ears begin to bleed, and then I curl up on the floor, desperately scanning my phone’s music library for some rock classics) then there’s the option of turning it off and listening to the sounds of pure motor, tires, and crunching metal; hopefully not too much of the latter.
Music taste aside, Asphalt 7 looks great, sounds great, and will constantly impress you with special effects like the fireworks over London or the bright lights of Shanghai.
Overall
Asphalt 7: Heat is a solid arcade racer whose only flaw is that it seems to merely be going through the motions. On paper it ticks all the boxes, but there’s nothing new, innovative, or special about it. However, it provides strong core gameplay, beautiful visuals, and polish that makes similar games pale in comparison.
Asphalt 7: Heat is a console experience on your portable device, and at 99 cents, it offers a far better value proposition. It will be very difficult for any other iOS racer to top this game… well, at least until Asphalt 8 hits the app store.
Today Ubisoft released one single screenshot for their biggest announcement of E3, Watch Dogs. While the image above may be shrunk down, one single click will open it up for you to view in all its glory. I say glory because this single screenshot provides probably the most stunning looking city scenery I’ve seen.
There is an impressive amount of detail in practically everything shown which is remarkable for a game that is designed to be open world. Watch Dogs is currently looking absolutely amazing and if the rest of the game looks this good then gaming has certainly taken a step forward in quality.
Blizzard has tried to clarify their new “review process” which gamers will have to undergo when they purchase a digital copy of Diablo III. Any new users who play the game before their digital copy has been verified will be forced to play a limited version of the game with a number of restrictions including the following:
No public game access for unverified digital purchasers
No auction house access (real-money or gold) for unverified digital purchasers
Unverified digital purchasers cannot trade items or drop items for other players to receive
Unverified digital purchasers are not able to chat in any public or game channels
Unverified digital purchasers cannot attach a custom message to friend requests, but they can send/accept friend requests, and play with their friends
Global Play is not available for unverified digital purchasers
So… you let this happen gamers. Blizzard is pulling the strings and the puppets are dancing merrily to their terrible restrictions. Enjoy…
If you are a fan of the game Fez then you have probably been waiting to see the game get patched up a bit. Well it just so happens that the patch was released today and it does fix a number of glitches, exploits and “infinite death loops.”
However with the installation of the patch there is a “fairly widespread” problem. Polytron has stated gamers “save file can be seen as corrupted by the game after installing the patch.” If this has happened to you then you may be able to clear your Xbox 360 cache, though if this doesn’t work then Polytron currently has “no known workaround.” So… yeah do not play Fez until the patch is patched.
Usually there are always a few people upset over a game’s ending but Mass Effect 3’s ending set the internet aflame with anger and in some cases even lawsuits. In an effort to sooth angry fans, EA and BioWare have been working on some DLC called Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut which will add some actual exposition to the end of the game.
The Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut will be released on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC this Tuesday, June 26 in North America. Now it is worth noting that the Extended Cut doesn’t add more endings, but rather “it expands on the meaning of the original endings, and reveals greater detail on the impact of player decisions.” So maybe there will be more to the game now than what color you chose to have your ending be…
Gearing up for the release of Katy Perry: Part of Me 3D a few new videos have been released of two quite important people to Katy Perry, and key players in her show, her stylist and make up artist.
They both have fairly sweet stories of how Katy picked them up when they were just little fledgling guys hoping to make their way in the world, and she took them with her to fame and stardom and all that. The movie is sure to be full of stories like this, and she just seems like that kind of person. Especially back before her first hit single, and it’s nice to hear that she’s kept on the same people on since those days.
Check out the interviews with Johnny Wujeck, her stylist, and Todd Delano, her make-up artist, below!
Katy Perry: Part of Me 3D is hitting cinemas on July 5. Keep tuned to Capsule Computers for more information as it comes out!
