The long wait is over. Konami Digital Entertainment, in conjunction with SRRN Games, is proud to announce the release of chapter 2 for Ash II: Shadows. The update now includes, for the very first time, the playable character Nicholas, all-new dungeons to explore, and a very special thank you gift for you, the fans. There has also been an update to the technical capabilities of the title, with improved D-Pad controls, faster load time on all devices and reduced application size.
As for the story, the world of Aghaus is once again in peril. It is up to the heroes of old to embark on another dangerous adventure to save it. Players join characters Nicholas and Damien as they pursue new quests, discover ancient mysteries and even make some unexpected allies.
Ash II: Shadows is available now at the new low price of $2.99 (Gold Edition) and $0.99 (Silver Edition) on the App Store for iPad, iPhone and the iPod Touch. All you need to do is click right here.
Sony have a habit of picking up somewhat strange and creative titles from small developers and unleashing them on the PSN for all to see. Think Flower, PixelJunk, Echochrome. The latest game in that imaginative indie vein to be confirmed for a 2012 release on the PSN is The Unfinished Swan, an intriguing little title from Santa Monica based developer Giant Sparrow. Now if you were paying attention to this sort of thing about four years ago (come on, surely you remember?) then the name might seem familiar. That’s because this game was first announced way back in 2008, with prototype videos released and gathering a little bit of excitement.
The title is being described as a ‘first person painting game’, where players take on the role of boy called Monroe, who pursues a swan through a surreal, blank world that can only be revealed by throwing handfuls of black paint. Way back when there was some talk of the title feeling like a horror game, but since then Giant Sparrow have chosen to focus on growing a game that created a sense of wonder. Perhaps as appropriate for a first person painting game, it has been confirmed that the title will support the PlayStation Move controller.
Fans of the quirky and curious will see the game sometime this year, but for now can check out the teaser trailer below, or take a peek at Giant Sparrow’s development blog, which features quite a lot of lunch.
Power Support has released their legendary screen protectors for the new iPad. Although the iPad 2 screen protectors are compatible with the new iPad, these screen protectors were designed for optimal performance with the new iPad’s Retina screen. The Crystal Film is a high transparency gloss finish that is almost like glass. The HD Anti-Glare Film has a matte texture that will cut down glare while resisting fingerprints at the cost of a little bit of clarity. Both these films are static cling type films that leave no residue when removed and are extremely thin. Each package contains one film and will cost $32.95 each. They can be purchased through Power Support’s website or at your local Apple Store.
Developer: Lionhead Studios Publisher: Microsoft Studios Platforms: Xbox 360 Release Date: May 2nd, 2012 Price: 800 MSP ($10.00 USD) Get it Here
Overview
Fable Heroes is billed as “an action-packed hack-and-slash adventure” in the tradition of the Gauntlet series of games. Priced at an attractive 800 MSP on Xbox Live Arcade, Fable Heroes is pitched towards those looking for a family friendly multiplayer experience. Can Fable Heroes live up to the large shoes left by its predecessors?
Story
Although there are lots of familiar elements in Fable Heroes to the previous three Fable games, Fable Heroes does not actually have a story. You simply guide your puppet heroes from point A to point B through iconic areas of the Fable universe.
Gameplay
Fable Heroes is best described as a mash up of Mario Party and Gauntlet. The gameplay is a simplified version of Gauntlet. Four players team up together to hack and slash their way through hordes of classic Fable enemies. The game is broken up by decisions near the end of the level that will result in either a mini-game or a boss battle. Players work together to defeat enemies but will compete against each other for coins dropped by enemies, extra coins are earned by building multipliers. These multipliers are earned by killing enemies in quick succession. Once a level is complete, players are brought to a board game where players can purchase upgrades for their characters with the gold earned. This board game presentation is carried over to the level selection screen. There are three difficulty levels, family mode shares the total score amongst all team members and increases player health, normal, and challenging that lowers player health and increases enemy strength.
There are three different types of attacks that can be used. Light attacks are bound to X, Y is for heavy “Flourish” type attacks, and right trigger sets off a devastating area of effect attack in a ring around the player at the cost of one heart container. There are absolutely no combos to speak of, so feel free to button mash away. Although this decision makes the game very approachable for children, older players will find the controls too simplistic and lacking challenge.
Enemies all fall under three categories. There are small and extremely weak creatures that will rush players, medium sized creatures which will be the most common enemy faced, and the larger behemoth creatures that will soak the most damage before dying. The only difference between each level is the skins that match the level theme. Unfortunately this makes for extremely boring and repetitive game play. Play one level in Fable Heroes and you really have played the gist of the entire game.
Level design is extremely basic. Each level is practically an on rails affair with two endings to each level. One leads to a mini game while the other leads to a boss battle. I found the boss battles to be extremely bland; the only difference between each battle is the model of the boss. A boss is planted near the back of the level with a cone of space in front of it. All four characters will blast away at the boss while dodging ranged attacks. At certain points of the boss’ health, little weak creatures will pop out and the boss will disappear for a short period of time until all the small enemies are dispatched. The mini games on the other hand have a little more variation. Mini games are either a race of some sort or a survival challenge. Although the mini games are a great change of pace, it does not do a very good job of breaking up the repetitive nature of Fable Heroes. Another irritation is the Break Time sections. A large barrier will pop up and requires heroes to destroy the barrier as it spits out coins. I found this to be extremely disruptive to the flow of the game and pointless beyond the bonus coins provided. The gameplay in Fable Heroes could be vastly improved. I would have loved to seen unique boss battles and more types of mini games. The game is extremely repetitive and needs better game play mechanics to break the monotony than Break Times.
The upgrade system may possibly be the best part of Fable Heroes’ game play. The upgrade system is played on a board game similar to Monopoly. Roll a six sided dice to move your character the appropriate spaces. Each space has three possible upgrades to be purchased or is a special tile that can provide a variety of effects such as rolling again for a small fee or providing three possible upgrades randomly selected from the board. Only one upgrade can be purchased per roll if desired and all the upgrades in a ring must be purchased before players can begin purchasing more powerful upgrades from inner rings. Upgrades are purchased using gold coins that are collected in game and are exclusive to each character. You can however transfer gold amongst your characters to speed up the levelling process. The upgrade board is also one of three possible ways to unlock new playable characters in Fable Heroes, a majority of the unlockable characters are found on the upgrade board. I really liked the sense of randomness that the upgrade board provided. A fully upgraded character makes a world of difference in raking in coins in game. However, a highly upgraded character made an already easy game easier. I really appreciated the randomness the upgrade system had. It made upgrading my characters into a small mini game in itself.
Fable Heroes boasts integration with the upcoming Fable: The Journey game. Gold earned in Fable Heroes will unlock special items that can be used in Fable: The Journey. Two characters in Fable Heroes can only be unlocked with Fable: The Journey. Seeing as The Journey has not been released yet, we cannot say what sort of items will be unlocked.
The credits may be one of the best credits in a video game in recent history. The credits is a playable level that allows players to destroy the names of the team behind Fable Heroes. Many enemies are parts of the names, hopping out of the background to attack players. Although this really just another level, I thought this was an incredibly fun and innovative way to make players sit through the credits.
Unfortunately Fable Heroes is an incredibly short game. The game can easily be beaten in a single sitting. After the initial seven levels are ploughed through, Dark Albion is unlocked, allowing players to replay the game at night with ash falling and water replaced with lava. Supposedly Dark Albion is more difficult, but it seems that the difficulty lies in the fact the playable area is lit by a small beam of light.
Visuals
Fable Heroes keeps within the cartoon Fable tradition and takes it a step further by turning the characters into puppets and adding well implemented board game presentation. Each of the playable characters is a major character in the Fable universe. Levels are based on familiar locations in Albion and stay true to their inspirations. The UI is well designed, managing to stay unobtrusive. However, it can be really hard to pick out your character in the heat of battle due to the busy nature of the visual effects. This problem is compounded by camera zooming out extremely far to compensate for players lagging behind the group. Though floating player tags on top of characters can help, things can quickly become chaotic and difficult to see. Fable Heroes manages to shine, providing sane high production values to the Fable Xbox Live Arcade game that can be found in the Fable series on disc.
Audio
Fable Heroes is a great game to listen to. There is an impressive amount of music to listen to that is well written and performed. The music is kept airy and fun to keep in line with the family friendly puppet theme. The sound effects are varied and spot on. Like Fable Heroes’ visuals, high quality blockbuster type audio work has found its way onto an Xbox Live Arcade game.
Overall
Fable Heroes is an unfortunate lack luster game. Although it sports a great visual style and high quality audio, it is extremely repetitive and simplistic. I am not really sure if it is a good or bad thing that the game is capped at seven short levels. Although Fable Heroes is definitely family friendly, the game won’t hold the attention of players for too long. For the diehard Fable fan who is purchasing Fable: The Journey, Fable Heroes is a no brainer. But even at 800 MSP, I struggle to recommend Fable Heroes to most gamers. Maybe when the game is on sale at 400 MSP, Fable Heroes will be more appealing.
Riot Games is pleased to announce the full release of their Spectator Mode for League of Legends. Since the latest patch, players are now able to drop in and watch a variety of matches. Utilizing a Directed Camera and Timeshift Controls, summoners can easily navigate and replay time specific battles with ease.
Perhaps the main priorities of using Spectator Mode would be to watch top tiered teams and adjust playing styles to either mimic or work against other players. By browsing the “Featured Games” section of the PvP.net client, you will be able to view these top matches and spectate them while the match is in progress. However, there is a mandated three minute delay for those viewing new matches – can’t have outside help now! And interestingly enough there is not a limit to the amount of spectators in a given match. Watch the trailer below for visuals and more information on this newly administered mode.
The Pipper has returned for the May update of Xbox Live News with Pipper! This time I am wearing a similar outfit that I had on at my bachelor party this previous weekend. As my avatar is making a funky pose, I am sure I was doing the same. One addition that I wish I could add to my avatar would be a ball-and-chain. I did wear on such item throughout the night, and believe me when I say that my leg was raw by the night’s end. Let’s see if the deals this week can top my bachelor experience.
Deals Of The Week
As the first week has some decent deals, the latter week seems to be digging up some old games that may not interest many Xbox Live users. NIN2-Jump is one of this week’s golden eggs available for 200 MSP! Having completed this game in its entirety, I can attest to the game’s addictiveness and playability. Additionally, those who have not purchased the Battlefield Karkand could pick the map pack up for significantly less.
Name
Discount Dates
Price
Adventure & Shooters
May 1 – 7
NIN2-Jump
200 (50% off)
Guwange
400 (50% off)
Virtual-On OT
600 (50% off)
Battlefield Karkand
600 (50% off)
Clancy
May 8 – 14
GRAW 2 Co-op Collection
200 (50% off)
GRAW 2 Co-op Collection 2
200 (50% off)
Splinter Cell Conviction Deniable Ops: Insurgency
400 (50% off)
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Ch. 2
300 (50% off)
Tom Clancy’s HAWX Air Supremacy
400 (50% off)
Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
600 (50% off)
Splinter Cell Conviction Co-op Outfit
200 (50% off)
Tom Clancy’s Hawx 2 All in One Pack
400 (50% off)
Endwar Escalation Expansion Pack
200 (50% off)
New Releases
Here are the new releases from May 1st to May 9th.
Name
Release Date
Microsoft Points
(Games)
Fable: Heroes
2-May
800
Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition
9-May
1600
(Game Add-Ons)
Forza Motorsport 4 May Top Gear Car Pack
1-May
560
SSX Mt. Eddie & Classic Characters Bundle
1-May
640
SSX Classic Characters Pack
1-May
480
SSX Mt. Eddie Pack
1-May
480
(Avatars)
Reebok Classics
1-May
Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition Collection Update
1-May
Wolfenstein
1-May
Max Payne 3 Collection Update
8-May
Avatar Toy Armory Collection Update
8-May
What do you think the key features are of this week’s Xbox Live News? Minecraft is making its way to Xbox Live on May 9, and many gamers are excited to try out the block-based world on the console. Will you have your pickaxe on standby? With only a few decent titles up for grabs, many viewers are becoming outraged with Xbox Live due to the lack of popular games being discounted. Ideas have been brought forth to create a vault section for games that have been made before 2009 and allow players to download these titles for free. Stemming forth from that suggestion, gamers want discounts on relatively new material like Batman: Arkham City DLC. Keep putting on the heat, so your voices can be heard!
Thanks everyone for tuning in again for another chapter of Xbox Live News with Pipper. Always remember to rid the world of turnip hating scum, and “Play Hard or Don’t Play At All!”
Daria – The Complete Animated Series Studio: MTV Publisher: Beyond Home Entertainment Format:DVD Release Date: May 2, 2012 Price: $49.95 – Available Here
Overview:
What does it mean to be young? What is it about youth that we connect to? Why does a show like Daria connect so effortlessly with us more than a decade since it first aired? Sure technology is different, society is different, the world is different. But there is one thing that will never change, that unbridled youth inside of us all. We may repress it, but no matter how hard we fight it, we all long for the days when things were simpler. Times change and so do we, but that youthful rebelliousness lives on long after we outgrow it, it lies in the depths of our being, serving as a reminder of who we once were.
This is why a show like Daria is still as effective more than a decade on, because it captures a moment in time that we all go through on the path to adulthood, those vapid fleeting days of youth. Whether you are young or just young at heart, Daria will connect with you.
Story: Daria much like other animated series of the time (The Simpsons, King of the Hill) features a basic formula that can be bent into just about any kind of story. It also features an eclectic expansive cast of characters that are all fully realised, with a large variety of different personalities to play off of one another. This is where Daria’s heart is, it’s characters.
The cast of Daria is immense and there is definitely going to be at least one character you can relate to. The large majority of the humour in the series comes from the interactions between these characters. Whether it be the cynical titular character Daria conversing with the airheaded Brittney or any other combination of characters, everything feels so organic and the laughs come in quick succession, with witty biting dialogue that you just don’t see these days (a hallmark of 90’s comedy).
This shows greatest strength is it’s grounding in youth culture, something that has given the series longevity many from the same time just plain do not have. Youth’s of 2012 can easily empathise with any number of characters or plots in this show, and even the Youth’s of the past can look back at Daria with nostalgia. The entire culture of being young is universal and it gives Daria something that many shows can only hope for; timelessness.
Visuals and Audio:
Aesthetically and aurally Daria shows it’s age. It’s not high definition and it’s soundtrack very much inhabits the late 90s, but none of that matters. Does Daria look more than a decade old? Yes, but that’s just fine. It is a visually satisfying experience, untarnished by modern conventions, allowing Daria to remain in it’s original state and that is in fact a beautiful thing. It’s rough around the edges, and simplistic, much like the youthful spirit it embodies.
From an audio perspective Daria features an appropriately rebellious soundtrack coupled with the superbly performed voice acting. Everything just clicks with this show, from the brilliant opening theme song ‘You’re Standing on My Neck’ to Tracy Grandstaff’s impeccable performance as Daria Morgendorffer, everything just clicks.
Extras:
This release of Daria is without a doubt the most definitive release of the show to date, it features all five seasons of the show, both movies (Is it Fall Yet? and Is it College Yet?) as well as a plethora of other goodies for fans to feast their eyes upon. This release also comes with an exclusive Daria T-Shirt (exclusive to JB-HIFI stores) which is sure to delight fans. Alongside all of that are the following special features:
Pilot Episode: ‘Sealed with a Kick’
Mystik Spiral Music Video: ‘Freakin Friends’
Daria Day Intros
Top Ten Video Countdown Hosted by Dara and Jane
Never Before Seen Mystik Spiral Spin-Off Script
Cast and Crew Interviews
It undoubtedly the most definitive release and a must have for fans of the show and for the asking price this is an absolute steal of a release. There is simply so much content, that I must commend Beyond Home Entertainment. This is how you do a Complete Series release.
Overall: Daria is an uncompromising look at youth culture that is equally hilarious as it is engaging. Anyone that has ever been young will relate to this show on multiple levels. It will speak to the youth of today just as well as it did to the youth of 1996. It is a show that transcends time due to it’s core focus on youth culture.
What does it mean to be young any ways? Why do we find youth so compelling? It is that basic human emotion of longing for an innocent time, when the biggest of our worries was homework and chores. A time when we had barely discovered the harsh world that waits beyond those halycon days. It’s something we all try to recapture, a time when we didn’t care or worry too much. Daria is one of those shows that allows us to sit down for 20 minutes or so and reconnect with that time, or for some, discover it for the first time.
That is why Daria is ageless, it captures the feeling of being young like few others. Whether it’s alienation, popularity, cynicism or that youthful glimmer of hope, Daria conveys it with deft accuracy and an honest heart.
The 1993 classic, 7th Guest, can be downloaded for free today on the iOS and Mac platforms.
The iTunes Store listing reads: “Stauf Observes the May Day General Strike and Invites You to OCCUPY his Mansion. Don’t Work. Don’t Buy. You’ll Ruin the Spell. Get The 7th Guest for Free – TODAY ONLY. ”
Pick up this interactive movie puzzle adventure game here on iTunes or here on the Mac App Store.
Just don’t play it before bed, in front of your children, in the dark, or while your with other people. It is quite frightening…
Perpetual Testing Initiative, Portal 2’s next DLC pack, will include level editing functions. This DLC will be dropping on May 8 for PC and Mac. However, up until now, we had no clue how this would work.
A leaked video, which you can view below, shows how players will be able to create their own unique, mind bending puzzles as you switch between edit and play-through modes.
Its just a shame that this DLC won’t make it to consoles, but we suppose it would be a little complex for a controller.
As always, we enjoy your feedback. Please leave a comment below adding your thoughts on this video and what you would like to see next in Portal 2!
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 was revealed earlier today, and now we have a trailer to go along with it. Set in the near future, man’s wars have escalated to include super computers, robots and a new enemy. Plus futuristic tanks and a lot of cool guns. So. Many. Bullets.
In addition, this iteration of the popular game includes HORSIES!
So, sit back, relax and watch the new reveal trailer, and then leave a comment below with your thoughts on the game. Are you ready to play Treyarch’s next masterpiece this fall? Or are you ready for some one else to do something different with the FPS genre?
