Set to be released in the coming days, 2K Games and YAGER’s Spec Ops: The Line has received a launch trailer. The latest game in the long running Spec Ops series, Spec Ops: The Line sets to explore a war torn, sandstorm-ravaged Dubai with a strong single-player campaign narrative.
A fresh take on military shooter genre, Spec Ops: The Line also features an extensive multiplayer component, along with a cooperative mode which is set to be released as DLC post-launch.
Spec Ops: The Line is currently available for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC in North America, and is set to be released internationally on June 29.
Nothing says surprise like a zombie apocalypse, especially one that is happening quite literally tomorrow. IGN reports that the second episode of Telltale’s acclaimed Walking Dead video game series is set to be released tomorrow, June 27th on the Xbox Live Marketplace while the PC and PlayStation 3 version of the game will be available on June 29th, this Friday.
The second episode is titled Starving for Help and will pick up right where the first episode left off with the survivors beginning to succumb to normal hunger as the zombies starve them out. Gamers’ tough decisions from the first episode will be carried over into this game, creating a number of story differences depending on the choices you originally made.
After it was announced last year that the critically acclaimed Spelunky would be coming to the XBLA it seems the date has finally arrived. Or at least the date that Major Nelson chose to reveal the actual release date and price of the game which is July 4th for 1200 Microsoft Points.
Originally released for free on the PC, this new version of Spelunky will feature a new upgraded appearance, better soundtrack, four player multiplayer and a number of other extras. For those who don’t know, Spelunky features randomly generated levels which players must venture around in to gather treasures while avoiding enemies and traps.
Earlier today the official website for Tokyo Game Show 2012 was launched and with it comes a decent amount of information for the show. First of which, the motto for this year’s TGS is “Spreading Smiles Through Games.” The event will run from September 20th to the 23rd and will take place at the Makuhari Messe like it always has before. Now it is worth noting that Microsoft will be skipping out this year (though no one in Japan seems to like them anyways.)
Plenty of other big names will be attending, including Capcom, Konami, Sega, Square Enix, Sony, Namco Bandai as well as a very large accompaniment of smartphone developers. Now we plan on having a number of our team on the Tokyo Game Show floor this September and any of you who may be wanting to attend should definitely give the website a thorough once-over at least.
A few months ago it was revealed that D3 Publisher would be bringing the cult-classic Earth Defense Force 2017 to the PlayStation Vita in Japan. Originally released on the Xbox 360, this port now has a solid release date of September 27th. Siliconera reports that the game is being titled Earth Defense Force 3 Portable and will also feature four player online multiplayer as well as ad-hoc gameplay.
Unfortunately at this time D3 has not made any announcements regarding a North American release of this game, though considering the fact that the PlayStation Vita’s physical releases are region-free, the title is ripe for the importing at the very least.
If you just can’t wait around to play CCP’s Dust 514 and want to jump into the closed beta early, you now have the ability to do so. Now while the game itself is going to be free to play upon release, anyone wanting to jump in now will need to pay $20 for the newly released Mercenary Pack which will provide the player a number of bonuses as well as $20 worth of in-game currency.
Players will receive 4,000 Aurum as well as skill boosters, special gear, new weaponry, 50 drop uplink items, 50 grenades, 50 damage boost items as well as the all-access beta pass which will allow you to get into every beta event, even ones that aren’t technically scheduled.
The full list of what will be available in the pack can be seen below:
4,000 Aurum ($20 USD value) – the in-game currency for DUST 514 that you can buy in the PS Store
30-dat Active Skill Booster – increases earned Skill Points (SP) by 50%
‘Dragonfly’ Scout Dropuit – a uniquely designed armor with unlimited use
‘Toxin” ICD-9 Submachine Gun with unlimited use and a custom skin
HK4M Shotgun X 50
Hacked Drop Uplink x 50 – allows players to create on-the-spot spawn points for their teammates
Fused Locus Grenade x 50
1.5dn Myofibril Stimulant x 50 – offers players a temporary melee damage boost against opponents
All Access Beta Pass – allows players to participate in every Beta Event, as well as additional play sessions during off weekends
BioWare previously told gamers that they would need to load up a save file a few missions before the actual ending of Mass Effect 3 to experience everything that the Extended Cut DLC which was released today has to offer. However it seems a few people have already found a workaround for this as Joystiq is reporting that gamers can load up an auto-save named “Citadel: The Return.”
This will apparently drop players right into the extended ending descriptions though may cause players to miss out on anything that may have been added to the ending before these final ending segments. So my angry friends, does the extended cut DLC make you a bit happier with Mass Effect 3’s ending or are you still full of rage?
Fans of Journey in Europe will be left out in the cold when it comes to Journey’s upcoming Collector’s Edition which includes Journey, Flower and FlOw and a number of other bonus features. After it was revealed yesterday that thatgamecompany would be bringing this collection to North American fans, European gamers were quite adamant about finding a potential release window for the game in their region.
Unfortunately for them however, thatgamecompany responded on their Twitter account stating that “We wish Europeans could get it, but there’s nothing we can do.” While this is disappointing to fans over in that region who may want a physical release of the game’s, they are still fine for download.
The semi-finalists have come and gone and there is now only the finalists left to contend in the PONG Indie Developer Challenge that Atari has setup for the 40th anniversary of the classic game. Starting back in February the challenge called on all indie developers to try and revamp PONG in a fun new way. Now the entrants have been narrowed down to 7 finalists. These finalists and their games are:
PegPeg with RetroPong
Delusions with Pong Tournament 2012
Island Officials with Pong EVO
Fishbowl Productions with PONG 4033
zGames with Pong World
Eppy Games with Fong
Mad Ruse with Pong Tournament
Interested parties can check out the games from the PONG Indie Developer Challenge website HERE, where they can also be voted on to help show what real players think of the games. Voting and rating will continue until Aug 2nd, when the judges will announce just which are the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize winners and take home the big cash prizes.
LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes Developer: TT Games Publisher: Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment Platforms: Xbox 360 (Reviewed), PS3, Wii, PS Vita, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS Release Date: June 19th, 2012 Price: $49.99 – Available Here
Overview: LEGO Batman was one of the highest selling LEGO games and for good reason too. Not for the obvious reason that it was Batman, but it actually had an all new original story too. LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes continues the tradition of Batman breaking molds by introducing actual voice acting as well as fitting it into the larger DC Universe with the other Justice Leaguers. So that’s what the game has bringing to the table. Is it enough? Can it live up to it’s predecessor or does it go the way of oh so many Robins?
Story:
The story this time around finds Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor both vying for “Man of the Year”, seeing as it is being held in Gotham however players will probably know which way it will swing. The awards are prematurely broken up however when Joker opts for writing himself in the vote. This ultimately however allows Lex and Joker to become acquainted, which leads into the main plot.
As with any time super-villains team up, this spells disaster for pretty much everyone, which is why, even though the story is greatly Batman-centric, the other heroes show up to help out. The plot has some pretty good heft, weighing in at 15 levels, making up for the fact that there is no villain campaign this time around. Every level starts out with a news report to flesh out not only what’s going on in the story like a mini-recap, but also to provide a small glimpse at how the city is responding to everything going on while Batman is busy.
The story is unfortunately almost entirely Lex and Joker though, not that there’s anything wrong with the characters, but the other villains get pretty sidelined where one of the strengths in the first game was the variety in the stories. That said the Lex/Joker story is very tight and well written, providing an adequate crossover opportunity without feeling forced. Though players should stay through the credits to see where the series might go from here.
Gameplay:
The LEGO games are a constant evolution, trying out new concepts and carrying over the best into future titles. Keeping with the standard drop-in/drop-out gameplay other features from previous games are LEGO Star Wars: C lone Wars’ gold LEGO objects that can only be destroyed with lasers and LEGO Harry Potter’s water spraying, but the best parts are the new things for this game. Instead of the level selections in the hub, there is a much more versatile hub map which includes not only the levels, but every other unlockable in the game too. This makes it a lot easier on players in the long run, so there is less need to go a look up where anything is the means are already provided, which make sense since his is Batman. Another new addition is the save/checkpoint feature. Now players need not have to worry about restarting an entire level should they have to stop midway through, getting to a checkpoint to save and quit they can theoretically pick up at the checkpoint, but it didn’t exactly work all of the time.
There is one aspect that is pretty frustrating this time around though. The hub doesn’t actually become Free Play until after completing the story. While this may seem to be a minor issue, it severely limits the hub until getting the story finished. There are only about 4 of the 20 Red Brick available to get before the story finishes, which can be frustrating for those that like to gradually earn them between levels. The game doesn’t really even say this is the case either, until finding out after the last level that it is unlocked. This is a large departure from previous LEGO games and hopefully it goes back to how it used to be as not being able to use unlocked characters in the hub world until after the story ends up sectioning the game into the story, then the hub world making it feel smaller in scope than it should.
As with the last LEGO Batman, the main focus of Batman and Robin is that they can switch into different suits that allow them to tackle different tasks balancing them better against their foes. This time around Batman and Robin each have 4 suits that utilize different abilities. Batman can have a Bat Suit, Electricity Suit, Power Suit, and Sensor Suit, while Robin has an Acrobatic Suit, Freeze Suit, Hazard Suit, and Magnetic Suit. These are all very important in the story missions to get past everything, but when it comes to Free Play several of the suits can be entirely replaced by other characters, which saves time on having to go change suits constantly, but I’m torn between if all of these suits should have been replaceable through unlockable characters. On one hand it would make it easier than having to find the suit you need, but on the other you don’t really want to end up nerfing Batman in his own game.
In terms of other abilities for the other characters, there is a variety, but it somewhat dwindles down to either objects only one character can open or blocks only one character can build with, which is kind of a let down. That and different characters who would seem to be pretty powerful are somewhat useless or missing somewhat expected powers. Sinestro should be just as powerful as Green Lantern, but there are no yellow objects just for him to utilize limiting him solely to flight. Martian Manhunter can’t turn invisible in the game, which is a real let down for fans of the character as Batman is capable of it with one of his suits, while Martian Manhunter can’t and it’s a pretty stand power for him. Though Aquaman isn’t nearly as useless in the game as people like to joke about him being in general.
Audio:
As stated before, LEGO Batman 2 actually has voice acting, which is something many people would probably worry about because it changes the formula that’s been working so well so far. But, the voice acting really does work with the game as it isn’t over done and is almost entirely done solely in cutscenes. It allows for the game to actually have more jokes than the standard slapstick or prop-centric humor of the previous games. Probably one of the better ones being a jab at Batman: Arkham City, which would have been impossible without dialogue. Though Alfred constantly butting in at the beginning with every tutorial can get really old, really fast.
Music in the game is the solid Batman score that fans have come to recognize and enjoy, but it isn’t the only recognizable music in the game. As with the addition of Superman when players start soaring with him in the hub, players will be greeted to the John William’s original Superman score. It is both a pleasant surprise and greatly welcome, as players go traversing the level, but it is entirely dependent on being Superman, so don’t go flying around as Man-Bat hoping to hear it.
Visuals:
Making a game entirely out of LEGO continues to look as good as it always has. LEGO Batman 2 does have a gritty feel than other LEGO games, but that is generally the style of Batman himself. With so many more characters from the other DC properties they have done an amazing job at making everyone look enough like themselves that as long as you’re moderately versed in DC at all, you can tell who characters are simply by how they look and not needing to be told. This is also attributed to the characters being styled on the most well known versions of the characters.
Besides characters, the LEGO models for the vehicles are also well done and have a pretty wide range. There is a large selection of boats, planes, and motor vehicles, with the last five of each being the mini-kits players unlock in the levels. The vehicles in the game range from some pretty awesome VTOLs to the more silly, like Mr. Freeze’s Iceberg boat and Wonder Woman’s Invisible Jet. In all a crazy range of things to choose from.
Overall: LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes is a good game, but it does have a few problems that ultimately make the experience not as fun as it could have been. It seems like a pretty poor decision to limit the hub world until the story is actually over, especially when every collectible is visible through scanning the map, so that they end up teasing at all the things you can’t get yet. It is also nice to see the ability to save and quit at checkpoints in story levels, though it would be nice if they worked all of the time. Those things aside, it is still and good game and a LEGO one at that, so it’s good to let the young audience have at it, which is why I give LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
