Developer SpikySnail has announced that The Splatters will be coming to Xbox Live Arcade for 800 ms points. The game features unique physics, where the player tries to create the best show by performing tricks and stunts with the title characters. What kind of stunts? The kind that ends with an exploding splatter.
The video showcases the general idea of how levels work and the kind of things player will be able to do in the game. The video only has but a taste of the whole game though, as the full game will feature 69 levels to perfect your stunt making skills. As your skills develop, you’ll be able to pull off new and interesting stunts, so after the first play through there will be reason to replay and try them out on the earlier levels. Better yet the game comes with the ability to record clips of the best sessions and scores, so they can be shared with friends for bragging rights or engage in competition.
Speck has improved their PixelSkin HD Wrap for the new iPad. It’ll be available to order next week. In the mean time, Speck has released a video showing off the new improvements to the SpixelSkin HD Wrap. They have thinned out the cover to make it lighter, replaced the gecko tape with a more secure plastic clip, and have added magnets to be compatible with the new iPad and the iPad 2’s Smart Cover system. Of course, the base features are still in tact, allowing you to prop the iPad in two different viewing angles. No word on price for the new PixelSkin HD Wrap.
Believe it or not iPhone 3GS are still being sold as a free phone with a term contract. So as not to deny iPhone 3G/3GS owners the thrill of new cases being announced, Ballistic is now selling their Hard Core Case for the 3G/3GS models. These are seriously tough cases, utilizing four layers of protection and an optional 5th layer just in case the first four wasn’t enough. The case has a built in screen protector, button and port covers, two layers of shock absorbent polymer, a hard polycarbonate shell, and an optional silicone layer to protect your brand new phone. To sweeten the deal, Ballistic is throwing in a tough rotating holster for your phone. The Hard Core case is priced at $49.99 and comes in three colours, red, black, and grey.
Multiplayer is something that seems to be the most crucial part of any shooter game that comes out these days. For some the multiplayer far outweighs any entertainment or longevity of play you get from the single player campaign. We’ve gone over how great the single player mode is shaping up to be, so will the multiplayer mode play as well? Or is it just filler that is now required by the industry? I got to sit down with a group of individuals and battle it out in the varied, and unique, multiplayer modes to test it out.
Max Payne 3 thunders out of the gate straight away, with the range of playing modes available. This isn’t your standard death match scenario (though those are included, and as always, are good fun). There is also Payne Killer mode and, my favourite, Gang Wars. With each of these Rockstar have clearly worked outside the box and decided that settling for the standard multiplayer stuff, such as Capture the Flag, Team Deathmatch, and Free For All, just wouldn’t cut it. And it has definitely paid off.
Payne Killer mode involves everyone starting off as enemies, until the first kill. The first to get a kill becomes Max Payne, the first to die becomes Passos. Max and Passos get that edge over everyone else, getting special weapons and abilities, as well as two painkillers. Everyone else is on the same team, all out to get these two and vying for either position. However, it isn’t reliant on who finally kills Max or Passos, but more so on who has done the most damage. The winner at the end of the match is the player whos cores the most points, which is also dependent on how long you can stay alive.
Gang Wars is really the truly awesome part of Max Payne 3 multiplayer. It links in with the single player story and reacts to the outcome of each round. It feels like a multiplayer campaign, with a story line, voiceover, and that awesome Max Payne cut scene feel. You play as part of a gang, with your objectives being anything from gathering a bag, blowing something up, or defending a target. Each level is action packed and can have you on the edge of your seat as you vie against the rival gang to gain territory, money, or just be the top dog. I have never been so invested in a multiplayer mode, so determined to take down an opponent, and so entertained and intrigued by each round as it turned up. Gang Wars truly is the crown jewel in the Max Payne 3 multiplayer mode.
And, hey, what would Max Payne be without Bullet Time? And Rockstar have managed to integrate that into multiplayer too. When a player activates Bullet Time then the people caught in the players’ line of sight are also caught in Bullet Time, with their movements – and bullets – are slowed down, until they get out of the line of sight. It’s a genius way around the potential problem that Bullet Time could have been to multiplayer, and a couple of times I did suddenly get caught in it, though if they didn’t finish the job I’d usually end up swinging around and punishing them for it.
Bullet Time, along with a few other abilities such as health boosts, ability to spot enemies on the map, having stronger bullets, and stealth, are part of what are called Bursts. These are an ability that you can choose which gives you an edge in multiplayer and you can equip as part of the Loadout Customisation process. Bursts use your adrenaline up, so it is important to use them wisely and make sure to use them when it counts. And considering some of the awesome things you can do to mess up the enemy, this is definitely something you want to use when it’ll make the biggest impression.
We played three different maps in the different modes, the Bus Depot, Favela and Docks. The Bus Depot was full of buildings, random cover-friendly spots, and the perfect environment for a skilled sniper. The Favela was based in a rundown neighbourhood, full of roughly carved stairs and abandoned houses, that reminded me strongly of the abandoned, damaged houses in some of the WW2-wrecked neighbourhoods of COD. The Docks was, well the docks. Warehouses, shipping containers, water, and poorly built bridges galore. Each of the maps screamed the environment they’d been based on, and also felt fantastically genuine.
Forge of Empires, the latest entry into InnoGames’ catalogue of browser based games, is heading into closed beta.
Prospective players of the strategy game can sign up for one of thousands of beta keys right now by registering on the Forge of Empiresofficial website. The game itself delves through the depths of history as players begin in the Stone Age and develop through the centuries, whether by military might, technological advancement, or careful diplomacy. Aside from its long-term singleplayer campaign, the game will also feature player versus player features for those who get a kick out of destroying the civilizations of others.
For more details on Forge of Empires be sure to check out the game’s official blog page, and check back here at Capsule Computers for all your gaming news.
Fans of the Game of Thrones television series will be overjoyed with the release of the latest trailer for the upcoming video game, Game of Thrones. Game of Thrones is an RPG based on the hit television and book series by the same name.
This new trailer showcases some of the interesting plot, but in such a way that it is interesting and doesn’t reveal too much for newcomers to the story. For more information, be sure to check out the official website and watch the trailer embedded below.
Did you know that Ron Burgundy is an excellent flautist and has a handshake of steel? He actually popped up on Conan the other night to strut his stuff and catch some cred with the cool cats in the band. After demolishing his fellow host and paying his respects to the show, he got to straight to the point – there’s an Anchorman sequel in the works- and hey, if Ron Burgundy says it… it’s the truth!
So that’s a whole 8 years on from the release of the original movie; which was a veritable goldmine of quotes that really launched Will Ferrell into the big leagues. There’s no word yet on an official title or anything else for that matter, but it’ll be enough for fans of the legendary anchor to know that it’s happening. Stay tuned for more details: and stay classy.
Welcome to the first episode of CC Powerslam, Capsule Computers Wrestling Podcast! In our first episode, the CC Crew discuss the Road to Wrestlemania 28, the card for Wrestlemania 28 and make their predictions for the event.
Cast: Luke Halliday, Philip Federico, Travis Bruno, Dustin Spencer and Jahanzeb Khan
Music: Lessons in Vanity (Volume 1) by Fight the Quiet
Send all your wrestling questions, suggestions, predictions and feedback to [email protected]
Wrestlemania 28 PPV Card:
Once in a Lifetime Match:
-John Cena vs. The Rock
Hell in a Cell Match:
-The Undertaker vs. Triple H. Shawn Michaels will serve as the special guest referee of the match.
WWE Championship Match:
-CM Punk (c) vs. Chris Jericho
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match:
-Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Sheamus
WWE Intercontinental Title Match:
-Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Big Show
-Randy Orton vs. Kane
12 Man Tag Team Match For Control of Raw and Smackdown:
-Team Laurinaitis vs Team Long
Team Laurinaitis: David Otunga (Captain), Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre & The Miz
Team Long: Santino Marella (Captain), R-Truth, Zack Ryder, The Great Khali, Kofi Kingston & Booker T
Divas Tag Team Match:
-Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos vs. Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres
Feedback:
Send an email to [email protected] and let us know what you think of the podcast or what you’d like to hear or any suggestions you might have.
Ninja Gaiden 3 Developer: Team Ninja Publisher: Tecmo Koei Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (Reviewed) Release Date: March 20, 2012 Price: $59.99 – Available Here
Overview: Ever since Ninja Gaiden was released on the original Xbox it has been known as a series that offers not only plenty of action but also a very brutal level of difficulty and even more brutal swordplay. This stayed true in the sequel and the various remakes it has seen over the years.
Under the multiple re-releases of previous games fans were eager to see where Ryu Hayabusa would go next and Tecmo Koei has delivered that story in the form of Ninja Gaiden 3. However there have been more than a few changes to the formula many of us know and love. The question is however, do these adjustments make for an even better game or will they leave a bloody stain in our memories?
Story: Nearly any gamer who has played a Ninja Gaiden game before should know that Ryu Hayabusa has killed a lot of people… in fact he’s probably killed enough people to equal the population of a small country over the years and in Ninja Gaiden 3 we are presented a story that tries to humanize this previously unfaltering killing machine.
However in Ninja Gaiden 3 we see a ninja who is finally seeing that perhaps slicing and dicing every living human being in sight isn’t a good idea as Ryu is given a curse that taints his body with a red arm that slowly grows more tainted every time Ryu kills another person. While one would think that this is a great way to humanize the previously masked killing machine (Ryu removes his mask from time to time), it falls far short of its goal.
While players would expect to see at least some sort of choice provided here or some consequences for murdering everyone in sight, there is no harm done or even a way to avoid killing everyone. As players fight countless soldiers there will occasionally be some who are crawling away asking for mercy, though there is no detriment or bonus for choosing to kill or spare them. At the very beginning we are given a normal soldier begging for his life, even removing his ski mask in an effort to plead for his supposedly existing family. However the only option the player has here is to slowly walk forward and chop the man in half. No choice, no options, just blood and brutality.
To top it off, the game’s storyline is very thin and predictable at best. Players will easily be able to tell what will happen before it happens and there is practically no mystery to be found here. To make things worse, the story is told in a heavy handed manner that occasionally slows the action to a crawl by providing back to back cutscenes or literal slowdowns in combat courtesy of Ryu’s cursed arm which grow to be tedious.
Audio & Visuals: If there is one thing that can be said for Ninja Gaiden 3, is that it really makes combat thrilling visually. As players wade through the multitude of enemies they battle against they will slice through them with fluid combat and plenty of blood flying everywhere. It is worth noting that for some strange reason, dismemberment has been entirely removed from Ninja Gaiden 3. Instead players are meant to experience a “steel on bone” feeling. For what it is worth, this focus on simple combat damage instead of dismemberment does make the battlefield seem a bit more realistic and visually pleasing as blood flies everywhere when you slash your enemies to death.
The same unfortunately can’t be said for the game’s environments which range from being decent looking at best to bland and boring. There is a decent amount of diversity to be found in the battlegrounds but it is just a shame that they couldn’t be given more detail to provide a visually pleasing experience.
While the game may look great visually, there are only a few highlights to be found in the game’s sound department. As players battle enemies they will occasionally leave a few wounded ones in the melee and these soldiers can crawl away from combat begging for their lives or crying in agony. This is a major highlight to the combat as it makes it feel like a real battlefield at times.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said about Ninja Gaiden 3’s voice acting as nearly all of the characters lack emotional depth with their performances, making it even harder to become interested in what is being said at any given time. Nor is there anything special found in the musical score either as we see the standard action music applied in Ninja Gaiden 3 that you would find in nearly any other action title.
Gameplay: At its core, Ninja Gaiden has always been an action title that featured difficult combat and a slew of weapons and abilities to deal with the deadly foes put in your path. Unfortunately that core gameplay has changed significantly. In what perhaps is an effort to make the game more available to those who have never played the series before, Ninja Gaiden 3 features much more streamlined action at the cost of variety and excitement.
While past titles may have made life difficult for Ryu whenever to many basic enemies appeared on the screen at any given time, Ninja Gaiden 3 has streamlined the combat so much that simply mashing the weak attack button is enough to get you through most encounters, with a few hard attacks thrown in for kicks. On the normal difficulty many gamers will find that they barely need to worry about their health gauge as they dish out death with their katana.
It is worth noting that you also get very used to that katana, as it will be practically the only weapon you will be using throughout the game. Unlike in past games where Ryu carried around a small arsenal of weaponry, Ryu only has one weapon this time around. Though for some reason there are some free weapons on the way as DLC but why they were not included in the vanilla game is anyone’s guess. Besides his katana players will also be able to throw shuriken and use a bow to deal out damage long range. Also gone are the collectibles and nearly every single one of Ryu’s ninpo attacks minus the ability to summon a fiery serpent dragon that will kill all nearby enemies with the same recycled animation again and again.
To make up for its lack of difficulty and uncomplex combat Ninja Gaiden 3 has seen fit to throw countless enemies at you. There will be plenty of times you will slice through nearly fifty people and become curious as to where their confidence comes from. In fact, the game follows a very linear path where players will simply run down the set path and clear out enemies in each area. Rinse and repeat nearly the rest of the game.
One interesting mechanic included into the game is the way that players are given a small cinematic experience every time they deal a mortal blow to an enemy. The camera will zoom in and provide a close-up of Ryu’s blade ending another person’s life. While it is interesting, it is used extremely often and grows to be tiresome in larger fights as enemies will gladly take advantage of the zoomed in camera to sneak in some cheap attacks.
With barely any combat variety to speak of, weaker and less challenging enemies and linear pacing, Ninja Gaiden 3’s combat is a shell of what it used to be. Rather than providing a new and unique experience it has degraded into a simple hack and slash game that only gets exciting whenever a boss fight presents itself. These boss fights are usually always unique and provide a thrilling change of pace from the monotony of basic combat as most of them feature exhilarating action sequences that will leave a smile on your face.
Outside of the single player mode, Ninja Gaiden 3 provides us with an interestingly titled online mode that is called Shadow of the World. This gameplay mode allows players to take on challenges with others in co-op or face off against each other in battles to the death. These multiplayer modes offer level progression that provides some new costume pieces and other things when you level up, though customization is very weak.
The co-op action is interesting enough and gives players “contracts” that set certain conditions for combat, though the actual combat feels like two separate people fighting near one another instead of together. The versus mode places players in team battles though nearly all matches are extremely convoluted and often turn into repetitive button mashing in the hope of stabbing the other person before they stab you. All in all the online modes offer a small distraction from the single player mode, though there is practically nothing redeeming to be found there.
Overall: Ninja Gaiden 3 takes the formula of past Ninja Gaiden games and pretty much tosses it right out the window. There were so many things that fans will be looking for in this game and they simply will not find them as they no longer exist. While there is still enjoyment to be had in the fluid combat and the intriguing brutality of the new “steel on bone” system there are only a few exciting moments sprinkled on a mediocrely bland experience.
Mario Party 9 Developer: Nd Cube Co. Publisher: Nintendo Platform: Wii Release Date: March 2 (EU), March 8 (Aus), March 11 (US), April 26 (Jap)
Overview
Of Mario’s various ventures, the Mario Party series is perhaps the most quickly dismissed amongst gamers. Announced very quietly at E3 2011, Mario Party 9 was lost amongst some huge titles, and to many, it will probably seem like a pointless iteration of the series. On a console notorious for mini-game compilations, how relevant can yet another party game be?
In short: Very.
Nintendo take care of their first-party franchises, and Mario Party 9 is a lot more fun – and more innovative – than you might expect.
Gameplay
There’s almost no story, but in games like this there’s no need for one. The game is framed by something about Bowser stealing the stars out of the night sky, and carelessly leaving them in easy reach of our heroes. Whatever.
No, Mario Party 9 is all about frantic multiplayer fun, spread across over 80 co-operative and competitive mini-games that focus on skill, strategy, and luck, all wrapped up in an interactive board game.
The ninth iteration of a franchise (and that’s not including handheld versions) could reasonably be expected to do nothing more than polish the formula, upgrade the visuals and throw in a few gimmicks. Mario Party 9 actually shakes things up a fair bit, changing key elements that have remained unaltered since the first game.
Play still resembles a board game, as players roll dice to move around a path, land on spaces with various consequences, and regularly partake in crazy mini-games.
However, gone is the dollar/cent relationship between stars and coins: this time players simply compete for “Mini Stars”, picked up at certain points along the path or won in mini-games.
But the real game-changer here is that each player no longer makes their own way around the board: all four travel together, taking turns driving a vehicle. Players of earlier Mario Party games might be sceptical of how this works – including myself at first. Much of the series’ gameplay revolves around racing each other to a certain point, and sabotaging each other’s efforts based on relative location. How could this work when you’re always at the same spot as your opponents?
While travelling together does promote a higher degree of co-operation than in previous games, there’s no shortage of ways to troll each other. It just works differently. Having each player take turns at determining the direction and distance everyone will travel encourages competition, as players try to achieve conflicting goals at each other’s expense. Say there are Mini Stars on the road ahead, but you won’t reach them on your turn. Rather than continuing that way and allowing an opponent to claim the prize, you choose to turn left, down a more punishing path, forcing the next player to deal with the consequences.
Designed for this type of scenario, the boards allow for strategy to play a greater role than pure dumb luck. As such, the boards are livelier than ever, with regular events and mini-games triggered from certain spaces.
And that’s really the focus of the package: the mini-games. This time around, more than 80 different activities have been crammed into the game, and generally, they’re more enjoyable than the standard Mario Party fare. That’s not a criticism on previous games, but a compliment to this one – whether players are working together or duking it out, it’s never dull.
Whether you’re fighting to push each other into lava, dodging Bullet Bills, bowling for Goombas, Searching for Toad, counting characters, or just racing in classic Mario platformer style, the games are basic at first glance, but often hide a surprising depth beneath the surface. Skill, strategy and chance all have their place.
The mini-games you play are no longer dictated by the spaces each player lands on. You don’t even play a game after every player has had a turn any more. Instead, specific spaces will trigger free-for-all, team, 1 vs 3, or battle mini-games. Competing against or cooperating with other players will vary depending on the game, so sometimes it may be necessary (in our household, at least) to take a dive in a game, to ensure a particularly disliked opponent doesn’t score any higher.
One of the new ways of encouraging cooperation is to have all four players team up to take down a classic Mario enemy. These Boss fights are triggered at the halfway and endpoint of each board, and are among the most fun mini-games on offer. They’re structured as an interesting middle-ground between competition and cooperation: players scramble for the same goal of reducing the boss’ health bar, with more stars awarded at the end to players who deal more damage or deliver the final blow.
Interestingly, there’s less of a focus on Wii remote “waggle” than in Mario Party 8. Many games will simply use basic movements, have you point at the screen, or turn it sideways to use as a classic controller. With the gimmick of motion controls relegated to the background, the gameplay is allowed to shine. Where it’s used, motion works well, but it isn’t shoehorned into every mini-game.
The game can be played on your own, but that’s not the focus here. I tried single-player, out of necessity for this review, and found it quite dull. No, this is a game best played with friends in the same room.
The multiplayer Party mode, which is essentially what I’ve described above, is the meat of the game, but there are other modes. Solo play has you play through each board with three AI-controlled opponents – one of which is a minion of Bowser. If that character wins, you must replay the board to proceed to the next one.
You can freely play any of the mini-games, or use wins to decide outcomes in other meta-games. There’s a bingo variant, and an interesting tetris-like game, that has the winner getting first pick of blocks, arranged to complete a square grid before your opponents complete theirs.
Visuals & Audio
The game has the standard colourful Mario visual style, with detailed character models and environments that invoke memories of previous adventures through the Mushroom Kingdom.
It looks pretty good, but with the usual qualifier “for a Wii game”. It won’t blow away anyone used to HD visuals, but the graphics perform well to vividly present the Mario universe. Of particular note are the character animations, which give a cartoony fluidity to their movements and add a whole lot of character.
That sense of character is only improved by Charles Martinet’s efforts giving voices to half the cast. The various grunts, cries, catchphrases and cheers present the characters with their own identity, even if they all perform equally on the playing field.
Every character, enemy, pickup, and setting in Mario games have their own iconic sound effects, and as usual, these are all present and accounted for. The pleasant “Ding!” of collecting coins, the satisfying “Plonk” of hitting a Goomba with a shell, the “growing” sound when a mushroom appears; the sound effects are as much a part of the experience as the iconic look of the items and characters.
Mario Party 9 also upholds the tradition of remixing classic Mario tunes: there are several great new versions of the Overworld and Underworld themes from the original Super Mario Bros – pieces of music synonymous not only with Mario, but the entire medium of video games.
Final Comments
Mario Party 9 will probably fall under the radar for many players, but on a console notorious for shovelware mini-game compilations, Nintendo once again prove that they are masters of their own first-party domain.
There are few games on the Wii – or any platform, really – that foster frantic, same-room multiplayer quite so well. You know what you’re in for, but there are enough changes to warrant another go of the series. Get a few mates together with some drinks, ignore your prejudices and just have some fun.
