Teen Wolf is not just an awesome, if illogical and zany movie from the 80s starring the awesome Michael J Fox. No, if you haven’t heard, Teen Wolf is a new television show that started a year ago, airing on MTV. This TV show takes the original concept of the film, and takes it that step further.
Making it just that bit darker, and exploring more what the implications of being a teen werewolf really are. If you are looking for a loving and faithful recreation, look elsewhere, Teen Wolf looks and feels like an entirely new product.
Teen Wolf follows Scott McCall (Tyler Posey), an unremarkable high school boy who really wants to be recognized as something more. And then, one night in the woods he gets bitten by a strange creature, and starts going through some changes that have nothing to do with puberty.
He also has a girl that he’s fallen for, only there is a lot more to her story and it is far more complicated than most high school romances can get. Not only that, but hormones combined with wolf hormones? Doesn’t usually work out so well.
Not only does he have high school, a girl, and a sports team with an aggressive bully on his back, but he also has to deal with the fact that this whole other world, a world full of werewolves and complex rules and dangers, has now been thrust upon him. Not exactly the easiest thing to cope with. Never mind that pop quiz in Math.
The first season of Teen Wolf is being released onto DVD on May 16. It has been nominated for six Teen Choice awards, and is a must buy for anyone who has seen the series, or wants to see it. The box set will include an exclusive extended season finale, deleted and extended content and behind-the-scenes extras with the stars of the show.
Check out the trailer for the show below!
For more information on the show and the DVD boxset being released, head on over to the FOX TV Facebook page HERE, or check out even more videos on the show, including an exclusive character introduction from Colten Haynes who plays Jackson, on their YouTube page. Keen to buy it? Well you can grab it from the JB Hi-fi page for $36.98 HERE.
The Chronicles of Inotia IV: Assassin of Berkel Developer: Com2uS Publisher: Com2uS Platforms: iPhone, iPad (reviewed) Release Date: May 9, 2012 Price: FREE – Available Here
Overview
RPG is a favourite genre of mine, one that is focused on storytelling and character choice, as well as an interesting range of characters and attack specialities. These are the categories that set RPGs apart from the pack, and are qualities that any game seeking to join the genre needs to qualify by. So does Inotia 4 uphold these standards?
Gameplay
Inotia 4 has a simple enough control system with a joystick in the left corner and an attack button in the right, as well as several hot key slots for special abilities. It’s fairly self-explanatory, which is good because there’s no tutorial. A tutorial comes after you finish your first mission, introducing you to the skills/abilities part of the game, which you wouldn’t have found unless you are adventurous in the menus, because it isn’t exactly obvious. In fact, sometimes several level changes can go by unnoticed. But that won’t really bother you with the enemies you encounter.
Mana increases quickly enough, and mana boosts are also dropped quite regularly. Not only this but health is regenerative, so in a few instance you can merely step back and let your health regenerate over time instead of using a health potion. This is kind of a let down, it became something that made the game so much more easier. Especially in one part where I had to take on several enemies, but waiting between each one by simply not moving towards the next one allowed me to take each one on with a full health bar and never worry about getting cut down.
Another thing with the enemies is that unless you’re in their immediate space they won’t attack you. In fact you can go through entire sections without getting into a fight provided you don’t pause or directly run into an enemy. This helps since enemies reappear once you’ve defeated them and if you have to go back the same way you came it is annoying to have to slash your way through again. It seems like defeating enemies is something you have to actively choose to do, for the purpose of leveling up.
The storyline follows a more old school, anime style approach and it is fairly one-dimensional. Your main character, Kiyan, is kind of a douche and he goes around doing what he likes and killing a bunch of people cos he’s an assassin and he’s totally bad ass like that. Plus all the girls are dressed, or should I say undressed, as you’d expect. So that might be a pro or con, depending on your opinion.
There are six different classes you can start off as, ranging from a knight, to a warrior, to a long ranged fighter to a warlock or priest. It’s pretty much pick your poison, in terms of what your usual RPG character is. Your main character will always be Kiyan though, a moody, apathetic little assassin man.
It is very much a button-spam game. There is no real method to the madness, just keep an eye on your health when taking on a boss, or a couple of enemies, use your powers when possible, and don’t die. There aren’t really counters, or anything that requires tactics beyond trying to take one enemy on at a time. Some might not enjoy this more hack and slash approach, though I have to say I didn’t mind it at all. I am speaking as a person who likes to pick a warrior though.
There is also some definite humour in there, which was much appreciated, and came rather randomly. Which is the best time for humour to come.
Visuals
The artwork of the characters that pop up whenever dialogue is said, is really intricate, and just what you’d expect from an anime game. Other than that the graphics are simplistic and reminiscent of old school games where you wander the forests, killing random beasts for experience points. Or, as I did, catching Pokémon.
Audio
The soundtrack doesn’t really set itself apart in any way. It sort of sits in the background casually, with a flute and is punctuated by the sounds of sword slashes and manly, as well as feminine, grunts as you take on enemies. It gets quite repetitive after a while, this probably won’t be the sort of music you hum to yourself afterwards, and if it is you’ll find yourself face-palming.
Overall
The Chronicles of Inotia IV: Assassin of Berkel is a fairly strong RPG app, especially in the anime section of the genre. It has the art, the storyline, and the style going for it. It is definitely a superior app to others on the market, but just don’t expect more from it than the anime-happy thing that it is. And you’ll probably want to turn your device to silent when playing it.
While we are familiar with the official North American cosplayer for Suda 51’s upcoming zombie killing action game, Lollipop Chainsaw, we have also been introduced to the official Japanese cosplayer for the game.
The lovely Jessica Nigri won a nationwide contest to become the official ‘Juliet Starling’ cosplayer in North America. Jessica Nigri certainly does a brilliant job in portraying Lollipop Chainsaw’s leading lady, but that said, Japan needed a lady to portray Juliet Starling for them. That lady has been chosen, and her name is Mayu Kawamoto.
While she is not a blonde, she still is cute and offers a more Eastern take on Juliet Starling. You can see her in action in the video below.
While Adventure Time fans already had a reason to celebrate with the recent announcement of a DS game from WayForward, there is even more reason to get hyped as the freshly titled “Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why’d you steal our garbage?!” is now also set to launch on the 3DS as well. Today, Both D3Publisher and WayForward came forth to enlightne the world on this magical creation.
Check out the press release for yourselves:
In the first licensed Adventure Time video game, Finn and Jake wake up one morning to find their trash stolen by the Ice King. Jake couldn’t care less about half-eaten bananas, crumpled up burrito wrappers, and old chicken diapers – but when they find out the Ice King is using their stolen goods to construct a Garbage Princess, the heroes embark on a fantastical adventure to teach him a lesson! Journey through the Land of Ooo in an offbeat adventure and discover perilous dungeons and unimaginable treasures, while playing as Finn and Jake in a unique action-adventure experience.
Working alongside the game’s developer WayForward is the series’ creator Pendleton Ward, who is designing a new storyline and quests for the game.
“Adventure Time fans have been asking for a video game to complement the series for some time, and we are working directly with Pendelton Ward, who has an amazing vision for the game,” said Peter Andrew, vice president of product development, D3P. “Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why’d you steal our garbage?! will be a fan’s golden ticket into the elusive Adventure Time universe and will capture the random fun and adventure we all love about the series.”
Adventure Time is the pop culture sensation, Emmy-nominated, top-rated show among kids, and its popularity continues to soar both on air and at retail. The series follows Finn, an adventure-seeking kid and Jake, his shape-shifting canine best friend, on their adventures in the Land of Ooo. The awesome duo save princesses, battle the notorious princess-kidnapper, the Ice King, party in Lumpy Space, fight in dungeons, and even befriend Marceline the Vampire Queen. Since the start of its fourth season, Adventure Time is the #1 program on Mondays on all television with kids 6-11.
“The rich and diverse characters in the Adventure Time world are absolutely perfect for a video game franchise and working with D3Publisher, WayForward and Pendelton Ward, we have a great team in place to bring it to life,” said Pete Yoder, vice president of consumer products, Cartoon Network Enterprises. “This game will provide the Land of Ooo experience that young fans will love.”
I am a bit curious of why both Nintendo portables were chosen for this title, but hey, the more Adventure Time, the better. Thor, Aliens: Infestation, and Centipede were all solid titles from the developer last year, so I would imagine this licensed romp will be just as good when it hits shelves later this fall.
Although FUNimation may be releasing Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker at the end of the month on May 29th you can catch what appears to be the first six minutes of the show below. The six minutes of footage can be seen below the official U.S. trailer which was also released today.
For those who don’t know, this CG film is based off of EA and BioWare’s Dragon Age series, with the movie acting as a prequel to Dragon Age II which was released early last year. Those who are interested in picking up the movie when it is released will be able to do so on either Blu-ray or DVD formats.
If you are Japanese, you are probably changing you pants after reading the headline of this article. That’s right as part of the promotion for Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland for the Nintendo 3DS, McDonalds Japan will be allowing patrons to download two exclusive monsters directly to their game.
You can scout yourself a meal at the fast food restaurant at the same time as indulging yourself with some delicious monsters. Wait… Other way around! Scout some monsters and ingest some heart clogging goodness. It’s a truly awesome combination that would truly excite Dragon Quest fans, pertaining they are in Japan. The promotion begins next month on June 9th, the game itself is released on the 31st of May.
What do you think about this Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland promotion with McDonalds? Let us know in the comments section below.
Do you remember how it was revealed on Amazon that Aksys Games’ Record of Agarest War 2 would have a limited edition that would contain an inflatable character doll? Well that turns out to be true as Aksys Games has officially announced their Limited Edition contents and released the above image.
The inflatable doll is blurred out at the moment but the character it will be representing is Felenne. Besides that the content will contain a “Heroic Trials from the Land of Agarest” art book as well as a 8″ x 12″ heart shaped compressed hand towel. The full details on these items can be found below, and those interested in picking up this Limited Edition will only need to pay an extra $10 when the game is released on June 27th.
Inflatable Felenne Doll: An adorable inflatable doll that will make a nice addition to any location that you can feasibly place it.
Compressed 8 x 12” Hand Towel: Conveniently compressed into a heart shape, this towel is the ideal object of your desire for when you need a small object that expands into a full hand towel.
Collectible Artbook: Titled “Heroic Trials from the Lands of Agarest”, this artbook is a humdrum addition to the many boring books you’ve read recently. Or so we would like others to think…
Coming from publisher Reverb Software and developer Lukewarm media is a trailer for the upcoming First-Person Shooter, Primal Carnage. The game is being sold as a Man vs. Pre-Historic Beast online deathmatch, which I imagine will be some kind of player versus dinosaur battle arena type of thing.
The video shows us some alpha gameplay footage of players and dinosaurs duking it out in battle, with footage of both teams being controlled by players. I’m quite liking the look of this game, and with it using the Unreal Engine technology, it is really apparent why this is the case.
Namco Bandai and Tecmo’s One Piece and Dynasty Warriors mash up, One Piece: Pirate Warriors, is nearing the 1,000,000 copies sold mark. The game is currently sitting with anticipation at 940,000 units sold, with the title expect to hit 1,000,000 with it’s next shipment.
The game itself has been a runaway hit in Japan, selling faster than any previous One Piece video game to date. The game is exclusive to PS3 and has been attributed to an increase in sales of the console (of which a special One Piece version was released). It has been hailed as the most definitive One Piece game to date and has received critical acclaim across the board.
One Piece: Pirate Warriors has yet to travel overseas yet. However with it’s European release imminent and a North American release looking to be on on the cards, One Piece: Pirate Warriors can only sail further and further into an ocean of cash for Namco and Tecmo. What do you think about the success of One Piece: Pirate Warriors? Let us know in the comments section below.
Tecmo Koei is doubling down with Warriors Orochi 3 as they have not only released it for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 but they are also planning on releasing it on the PlayStation Portable… at least in Japan. Besides including Ryu, Ayane and Achilles the game will also feature Rachel from Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2.
The game itself will be titled Warriors Orochi 3 Special and will also feature a new battle royale mode where four gamers can fight against each other at one time. Also those who have the PlayStation 3 version of Warriors Orochi 3 can transfer over their save data vita the PSP’s memory stick. Currently the title is set to be released in Japan on July 19th. Perhaps Tecmo Koei may announce a localization of this version as well in the future? We shall see.
