Uprising44 is named after one of the lesser popularised events of World War 2. The Warsaw Uprising of 1944 saw the Polish resistance take on occupying Nazi forces in an attempt to free their capital city. Unlike other major events of WW2 that have received some serious pixellated attention, this story is something of a fresh one, and developers DMD Enterprises hope to capture the attention of gamers who have perhaps given up on WW2 games as old news.
DMD are a small independent studio based in Poland, and Uprising44: The Silent Shadows is their first major release as a team. The game is a blend of third person perspective and real time strategy – thankfully no more FPS!
Subtitled The Silent Shadows after a fictional military unit, Uprising44 will be released on August 28 across PC, Mac and iOS. A console release on Xbox 360 was on the cards in previous press releases, but the new developer diary shows no sign of this happening – for the moment at least. As well as the video attached below which discusses story and sound, a handful of screenshots have also been released to give gamers a better idea of the in game world.
Party Wave Developer: Mistwalker Publisher: Mistwalker Platforms: iPad (Reviewed), iPhone, iPod Touch Release Date: July 20th, 2012 Price: $1.99 Get It Here
Overview
Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi’s latest project is a surf game called Party Wave. Drawing inspiration from one of Mistwalker Studio’s headquarter location, Mistwalker takes the classic Hawaiian past time of surfing and gives it a cartoony twist for the iOS platform. Will Sakaguchi’s first foray into the iTunes App Store establish a beach head for future iOS releases?
Story
Party Wave stars a bunch of easily recognizable and unique characters. However, there is no story in Party Wave. Simply help your surfers have a great day surfing at the beach.
Gameplay
Party Wave is a casual action surfing game that plays like a cross between Flight Control and a frantic game of keep the ball up. The simple description of Party Wave’s game mechanics is incredibly deceptive. Hidden beneath the premise is an impressively deep game that takes great care with the small details.
The game is divided into levels. Each level has a set amount of surfers that will participate. The level itself is split into two phases. The first phase will require players to guide the surfers into the oncoming wave as a group. Players will have to race against the clock to get their surfers in position. The surfers will appear from the corners of the screen at different positions and players will have to maneuver them around obstacles such as rocks and dolphins by drawing a path for them to follow. Once all the surfers are either knocked off their boards or in position, the game will transition to the second phase, riding the waves. The surfers will bob up and down as players tap the surfers when they fall towards the bottom of the wave. Tapping a surfer will send them up to ride the wave. The closer to the bottom of the screen the surfer was when tapped, the higher the surfer will go and more points will be awarded. However, touch the bottom of the screen and the surfer will wipe out. Have three surfers wipe out and fail the level.
Although the game begins at a very low difficulty level, the game quickly becomes a frantic micro-management sprint. Small details have not been ignored by the developers. Each surfer is affected by their physical size. The smaller the surfer, the faster they will move. Players will need to keep this in mind to properly time their interactions with the surfer to avoid a fall. There are plenty of hazards in both phases of the game that will require players to be extremely alert and agile. For even more challenge, there are special items and creatures that can be interacted with for a variety of effects. This surprising amount of depth for such a simple premise is a great example of the amount of loving care Mistwalker seems to have taken in developing Party Wave.
Visuals
Party Wave features colourful cartoon style graphics that is reminiscent of late 90’s and early 2000s North American cartoons with a slight Japanese twist. The classic spiky haired male lead character is even present in Party Wave. The surfers are unique and immediately distinguishable from each other. The animations are varied and the supporting cast of characters are memorable. The levels manage to look different by changing the colour palettes ever few levels. The user interface is extremely simple and uncluttered, leaving plenty of room for enjoying the visuals. Overall, Party Wave delivers an impressive visual experience that fuses North American cartoons with Japanese style.
Audio
If players are expecting Beach Boys style rock and roll in Party Wave, they are going to be incredibly let down. Instead, Mistwalker chooses to take a more relaxed route with music that would be more at home on a Jack Johnson album. The soundtrack is filled with chill Hawaiian styled tracks that rely heavily on the ukulele and acoustic guitar. Party Wave provides a musical atmosphere that fits perfectly with the cartoon graphics. This is exactly the sort of game players will want to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon playing in bed or outside lounging in the sun.
The English phrases are top notch. They are well spoken and easily understandable. The sounds of the oceans are varied and extremely accurate. Those with weaker bladders may feel the sounds of the oceans may be a little too accurate. The menu sound effects are classic Japanese and remind me of a modern take of the Final Fantasy menu sounds. Party Wave is a perfect example of the impressive audio experience that has made the Final Fantasy series memorable, beautiful music and great sound effects that perfectly compliment the visuals.
Overall
Party Wave is an impressive first game on the iOS platform for Mistwalker. I highly recommend playing this game on an iPad over the smaller iPhones and iPod Touches. Although this game looks spectacular on the small screen, I feel the extra room for maneuvering and the bigger screen space gives iPad users a slight advantage over their smaller screened cousins. My only concern for Party Wave is the $1.99 price tag. Party Wave is extremely polished and it is obvious a lot of love and care has been taken to create the game. However, the iTunes App Store is full of similar style games that populate the $0.99 price point. For those who cannot justify Party Wave at the full $1.99 have no excuse to not purchase this game on sale. However, the depth of Party Wave’s gameplay, the perfect synergy of the visual and audio experience, and the level of polish is worth taking a chance and buying a smaller cup of coffee for a day.
Tru Blu Entertainment have released the first trailer for their next rugby league game, Rugby League Live 2. The trailer shows off the new features of the upcoming rugby title, including improved gameplay features to capture the authenticity of the game, with Strategic Defense, a Dynamic Tackling System and even a Massive 10-Year Career Mode just to name a few. you can check out the trailer below. The game will be released for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.
Rugby League Live 2 will feature over 100 licensed teams, both at club and international levels. These teams will include the top teams of the NRL, Toyota Cup and the NSW & QLD Cups (Australian competition) and the Super League and the Cooperative Championships (English competition). Representative competitions such as the State of Origin and international teams will also be included. Commentary will be delivered by Andrew Voss and Phil ‘Gus’ Gould, both who are current commentators for rugby league.
Last week Ron Perlman dawned his Hellboy attire, and visited a terminally ill fan for the Make A Wish Foundation. Which is a pretty cool thing for Perlman to do for the fan. Hellboy Series director Guillermo del Toro who is currently working on Pacific Rim, and the game InSane, was so touched by the photo that he had this to say.
“I’ve encountered a lot of kids who are fans of the movies, but to hear the story of this kid who was watching the movies while going through treatment, it really just moved me a lot…I can say publicly that now we are together in trying [to do Hellboy 3].”
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army was an amazing film, and I wouldn’t mind seeing a Hellboy 3, The next time we see Ron Perlman in theaters is in Pacific Rim July 11 2013. InSane del Toro’s first video game project is set to release in 2013 as well. What do you think of the possibility of Hellboy 3?
Earlier this week, us here at Capsule Computers were given the opportunity to take some hand-on time with the upcoming Darksiders II video game from THQ. The build that we were given was a similar build to the one on display at E3, so anyone who has seen that version of the build being played will likely encounter similar content to the content presented here.
Firstly, I want to point out that we have previously covered a different portion of the game earlier in the year and that this build of the game did eventually lead us to the portions of the game from that build. So if you want to check that out, you can here.
Okay so in this build of the game we start in this icy realm with our trusty horse that has a few of it’s own abilities like being able to run like a horse and this cool charging like ability where it moves faster for a short period. However, whilst the main character Death is on it’s back, he is also able to swing his scythes around and damage opponents. I feel that these mechanics will be of greater use later in the game.
After a short ride on a straightforward path, we end up facing some icy enemies before having to enter an icy dungeon. Combat in Darksiders II is very action orientated and has Death equipped with short scythes as a fast weapon and, should you choose to equip something, he also has larger weapons as a stronger hitter. By ultilising each weapon for different purposes, players are able to maximise their efficiency in combat and enhance their survival.
Unlike War in the first Darksiders, Death is a more agile fighter and is able to dodge attacks as opposed to shielding and skating around in circles. I feel that Deaths dynamics are much more fluid than War’s and this should be more appealing to be players that didn;t quite enjoy that aspect of the protagonist in the first game.
Anyway, our adventure continued into this icy dungeon where we were tasked with killing icy grunts, smashing down icy holding cells for enemies and collecting all kinds of loot. What we took away from this dungeon was that game felt like it was a cross between Devil May Cry and Prince of Persia in mechanics, which is a pretty good mix in our opinion.
Of course, the game is much more RPG like this time around with players being able to loot many enemies that fall by their hands and as a result, Death is an amazingly customisable character. During our play through we were able to mix and match armour, weapons and much more. However, I’m a Min-Max style player, so I went with the gear that would yield the highest attack power. This, I found was probably a good thing when it came time to face against the areas boss.
Dodging is an incredibly important skill to utilise within the game and I quickly learned this whilst facing some of the larger enemies, like bosses. Iwhen getting bounced around by them, it becomes increasingly hard to remain living. Therefore, holding your finger over that dodge button is a must and hitting it at the right time is even more mustly. When you’ve got your ryhtm down, you can very easily take out a boss monster if you know what you’re doing.
Overall this build of the game was much less buggy than the previous build of the game and it is shaping up to be an incredibly impressive looking title. As someone who didn’t like the first Darksiders, I have to admit that I am slightly curious as to how this one will turn out and after my few playthroughs of the game, I might be willing to check it out.
Earlier this week at an event held by THQ in a secret location, us here at Capsule Computers were given a glance and/or playthrough of some of their upcoming games. One of these games was the upcoming Company Of Heroes 2 strategy game from Relic Entertainment. Unfortunately, we were unable to actually go hands-on with the title as the game is still in Pre-Alpha and has yet to leave the workshop. However, we were shown a pretty decent developer commentary and some gameplay footage of some new features present in the series. I have to emphasise that what we were shown was a pre-alpha version of the game and everything that we’ve reported on will be subject to change based on the developers whim.
Company of Heroes 2 is set in Europe, over near Russia and features historically inspired battles and missions from the battles around the 30s/40s World War 2 era. Because of this setting, there is probably not going to be any continuity between this and previous games and as such should be appealing to both newcomers and veterans alike.
The primary element that was on display was the new snow-based gameplay elements which is based around the actual combat elements from the games historical setting. Basically in Company Of Heroes 2, players soldiers will be subject to the harsh conditions of perpetual snowfall and occasional snow storms. This means that players will now have a new element to manage on the battlefield aside from the usual tactics of battle. For instance, individual soldiers will need to keep warm by taking cover or by having a field engineer construct fire to build heat. If a unit fails to keep warm, he will succumb to the snow and die.
There are also other snow-based elements, such as the element where units will prefer to move across footpaths over deep snow. In the deep snow, units temperatures drop significantly and their movement and effectiveness are cut. Having this kind of element adds a certain tactical depth to the field that could be manipulated by the right player.
During the playthrough, we were shown a lake made of ice. What made this interesting is that your normal infantry units could mostly cross the lake safely, heavier units like tanks would deal damage to the ice and could eventually sink in. It was also shown that the heavier tanks would be more likely to fall into the ice than the lighter tanks.
Of course, the game wouldn’t be a sequel to the original hit without having similar gameplay elements to the ones presented in the original game. As someone who actually played the first game (albeit a long while ago), I can tell you that is incredibly similar to this latest offering. For instance, both have cover, both have squads, capturing points on a map in certain game-modes and etc. However there is a new addition to these that make this new game stick out and that addition is the new vaulting feature. Players squads will be able to vault over walls to quickly gain ground or to get to cover.
At the moment of writing, the game that we were shown wasn’t as visually impressive as the first game was when it was unveiled back in 2006. However I would like to note that this is still the Pre-Alpha version of the game and assets and the like have probably been borrowed for development purposes. I’m hoping that the game will look much better when it’s completed.
Overall Company Of Heroes 2 is shaping up to be an excellent looking title that strategy fans everywhere will enjoy. There are enough new changes to make fans of the classic want to return for more and because of it’s unique setting of Russia vs. Germany, new players won’t feel left out of the story.
At an exclusive event held earlier this week us here at Capsule Computers were given the opportunity to get some hand-on time with the upcoming Darksiders II from THQ. As part of this event, the Creative Director for the game, Jeremy Greiner, was flown down from Florida. It was because of this that we were able to obtain an interview with him about the game.
During our interview, we touch on some interesting topics about the game and we believe that we have obtained some valuable information from our chat.
Be sure to check out the interview embedded below for more info.
Company Of Heroes 2 is the latest and upcoming strategy game from developer Relic Entertainment and is also a sequel to the highly regarded Company of Heroes that was released in 2006. The game recreates the second World War from the east-European war front.
So basically the new Cold-Tech engine is a way of simulating the effects of the cold on various units in the game. For instance, infantry units can now feel the cold and some tanks can fall through ice. I have reproduced the relevant sections of the press release detailing the most important aspects of the engine below. –
ColdTech includes an ‘extreme cold’ mechanic which accurately encapsulates the Soviet winter which reached extremes of -40 degrees F in 1941. At those temperatures human skin will freeze in a matter of minutes, something that is portrayed in the game. On winter maps, Infantry units exposed to the bitter cold will gradually freeze to death unless the player keeps them warm by building fires and garrisoning them in buildings. Dynamic blizzards will increase the effects of extreme cold making it even more hazardous to leave infantry in the open.
The new ColdTech system also allows the Essence Engine to dynamically paint on and remove snow, meaning that not only does it accumulate on buildings and vehicles, but it can also be melted or removed from objects by the player. Snow also has realistic depth which actually impacts troop movement and will retain persistent infantry and vehicle tracks throughout the match unless covered by fresh snow fall.
On top of the innovations in snow technology the engine allows ice to become a weapon in a smart commander’s arsenal. Not only does it have a unique texture, affecting vehicle and troop movement, but it can collapse or be destroyed from underneath troops and vehicles, plunging them into the hypothermic Russian waters. Over time destroyed ice will re-form due to the winter conditions in the game.
On the advancements in technology, Relic had the following to say –
Quinn Duffy, Game Director at Relic Entertainment commented, “Company of Heroes 2 is all about authenticity and no game based on the Eastern Front would be complete without extreme weather conditions. Thanks to the enhanced technology offered by the new Essence Engine we are able to accurately portray the bitter Soviet winter which crippled the German army.”
Company Of Heroes fans and newcomers alike are likely to be receptive of these improvements as they add a new dynamic element to the war game genre, a genre that isn’t exactly known for innovation. Be sure to check out the Official Site for more info.
A restaurant owner has recently lost her closest friend and now has revenge on her mind. This friend, mind you, was also murdered on her own wedding, which makes this an even more brazen hit. Mrs. Chu enlists the aid of Wei and together an explosive mission takes place on the streets of Hong Kong.
This trailer primarily focuses on the intense combat portrayed within the game, as well as a little bit of the world building that has gone into it. The trailer is also a developers commentary and we have one of the devs walk us through the level. It goes for around eight minutes and can be viewed below.
Be sure to check out the trailer, embedded below for more info.
Tony Hawk HD Developer: RoboModo Platform: Xbox Live Arcade Release Date: July 18, 2012 Price: 1200 Points ($14.99)
Overview
When Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater first launched years ago, it was the game that could turn you into a popular kid by simply owning a copy. The year was 1999, Tony Hawk was at the peak of his career, the Nintendo 64 and Playstation were battling for supremacy, and console gaming was replacing arcades rapidly due to the mass amount of hits that were brought out at the end of the 90’s. Pro Skater itself was like nothing else before, leading to a ton of sequels and fanfare, which are all ancient history now. After many gamers got burnt out by the mass explosion of skateboarding, the series died down considerably and has had a hard time finding itself in this era of evolution and motion controlled madness. Tony Hawk HD is more of a celebration of the series than a new entry, with levels from past games, a killer soundtrack, and those famous faces all making a return into relevancy. The question is, can an HD recreation live up to fans’ expectations? Let’s find out.
Gameplay
When first starting at the old Warehouse, players shouldn’t have too much difficulty getting the hang of that classic control scheme. Players can move their skater around a park with the left analog, build up speed with A, and of course pull off jumping and grinding by utilizing the other face buttons on the controller. Yes, not much has changed from past games, and when it comes to proper mapping, Tony Hawk HD gets a pass due to how accessible the game still is. The tricks and airtime are where this franchise gets it’s name though, and that is where it sadly starts to falter.
Robomodo made most of the tricks easy enough to combo into and a good number of memorable maneuvers have made a return, but this game’s physics can put a damper on the entire experience, greatly robbing the player of that freedom we have grown to know and love with the franchise during its earlier years. If a player is able to get enough air and start throwing down a chain of combos, the game can have a hard time accepting all of the inputs at once, which usually leads your skater falling to the ground instantly. Landing a trick is already hard enough, but these physics are rough around the edges and can lead to sheer frustration within seconds. Manuals assist a great deal when it comes to chaining a combo, but the lack of reverts that were introduced in Pro Skater 3 leave a missing space in this game, making it show it’s gray hairs in the process. Yeah, Tony Hawk HD makes it pretty clear that it’s all about the originals, but the little inclusions of such important maneuvers could have greatly improved these already shaky mechanics.
Execution of those jaw-dropping trick combos and techniques still revolve around a mix of timing and precision; meaning that after a bit of practice, one could master each skater and land their special moves in style with some old fashioned trial and error. Luckily, Tony still has his moxy in that area, as the game is still addictive when it comes to getting back on that board and trying again. Sadly, there are bugs on top of the messy gameplay elements that yet again take the player out of the skate park and into another realm of anger. As many of you know, if you fail a trick, your player resets back to their previous position. I had many moments where the game would mistake a slight movement for a fail, and then reset my character back in the blink of an eye. At first I blew it off, and kind of suspected it was just a one time ordeal, but after resetting while in mid-air and..while resetting (yes, and double start-up of sorts), this small bug became a bigger problem. I understand the developers recreated a lot of this content from scratch, but flaws like these make it seem as if this game was rushed out a bit too soon.
Underneath all of the flaws, there still is a decent single player mode to keep you busy. Each stage is made up of a good number of objectives to complete before moving on to the next area. Tasks like racking up a high score, landing specific tricks, and collecting S-K-A-T-E letters are all back, and each stage has enough to keep the player focused for hours at a time while they mark off their checklists. 7 classic fan favorite levels such as School II, Mall, and Venice Beach make up the locations within. That number may seem a bit small, but for a digital release, I found it to be sufficient enough. The skaters are also a motley bunch, made up of the Hawkman himself and some more recent faces, with a few returning characters that past players may remember. No, there isn’t Spider-man, but each member of the roster feels different from the next, which of course adds to the overall replay value of the game.
Instead of split-screen, an online mode has been included for Hawk-heads to get their multiplayer fix, with series’ staples such as Grafitti and Trick Attack. The humorous but slightly forgettable Big Head Survival mode has also been added, but the lack of HORSE certainly leaves a lot to be desired. If multiplayer isn’t your thing and you have finished up with your objectives, there still is a Free Skate option and online leaderboards to dominate. Some fans like myself however are sure to be disappointed with the lack of customization when it comes to the parks and boarders, as aside from avatar support, there isn’t much of your own personality to add to the game.
Visuals and Audio
When you hear the term HD, you usually think about character models and environments getting a full facelift. That is half right for Tony Hawk HD, as there are a few locations that look great and still manage to capture the essence of the original stage. Dimly lit stages like the Warehouse however are extremely stale, and feel as if the life has been sucked out of them, leaving a brown and grey shell in their place. The same effect goes for the skaters themselves, as the lighting used just seems to rob the game of color around every turn. My own avatar doesn’t even have much color in his outfit, but this game managed to take his little soul as well during all of the indoor areas. I understand that shading is important for updating an aged game like this, but I would rather go back to the old blocky visuals than see a good amount of Pro Skater’s charming aesthetic taken away. Animations are also a bit hit or miss, with some occasional clipping issues and jerky movements while crashing.
The soundtrack is definitely a high point of the experience, as all of the great music from the first two games is back and sounds better than ever. Songs like Superman and Bring The noise are sure to be a nostalgia rush to most of us out there, while new tracks have also been introduced that still fit in flawlessly. The sound effects however are a bit unbalanced with this awesome soundtrack, as glass shattering and helicopters taking off sound too overbearing and can easily throw a player off while in the middle of a trick.
Overall
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD is a game I wanted to love, so much in fact that I played the original blue Nintendo 64 cartridge while preparing for this very review. I still had a blast with the older game – even with it’s own shortcomings as the experience was full-on “arcadey” and just simple fun, which is why the series was so successful to start with. Tony Hawk HD should have been an easy remake considering the classic can still hold up, but it’s bugs, lifeless visuals, and exclusion of customization keep it far away from reaching it’s true potential. The Pro Skater series was a legendary staple in this industry, and much like the more recent and heavily flawed predecessors, Tony Hawk’s HD offering feels like more of a quick cash-in on this series’ name than the true tribute that it could have been.
