Variety is a must in life and even in Skyrim things can get a bit repetitive after you’ve seen the same kill cam animation repeated multiple times. However that is all about to change as Bethesda has a fancy new addition coming down the pipe for The Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim inside patch 1.5.
In this new patch there are of course a few random things such as “better transition” when going in the water as well as fixing bugs and glitches and the like. The main addition however is a slew of new kill cams for melee weapons and even kill cams for magic and ranged weaponry. Take a look at some of these killing animations below and salivate as you wait for this update to come to the console versions soon while PC players can pick up the beta version right now.
We learned very recently that The Walking Dead: The Game was being certified for release on a number of consoles, so many in fact that the list would be smaller if you listed what consoles it wasn’t on.
However the game will be released on the Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, PC, Mac and iOS platforms and today Telltale revealed to IGN that the first of the five-episode adventure title will be released in April with the next four game’s to follow “regularly.” Perhaps the most interesting thing fans are waiting to see is how close will The Walking Dead game stick to the information revealed in The Walking Dead universe so far, or if it will just do its own thing with an entirely new set of rules and information…
Over the years there has been a certain trend that has developed in the video game industry for the fighting game genre. That trend is that their game can only be entertaining by making certain increasingly difficult for players to do, such as string together simple combos or even perform special attacks. While there have been a few exceptions to this rule, the rule of thumb is that the only ones who will ever be good at a fighting game are those who have the time to sit and learn every specific combination of button presses and directional presses to perform the best attacks.
However there is a fighting game on the way to North America courtesy of 7sixty that not only provides a simpler fighting experience, but one that many gamers thought that they would never ever see. I am speaking of course, about Phantom Breaker on the Xbox 360. While some Japanese fighting games have recently become popular in North America and have seen multiple, albeit somewhat duplicate over the past few years, Phantom Breaker offers a fresh new experience to players.
You may notice a key theme with this preview so far, and that is simplicity. Now don’t think for a second that simplicity equals a boring title, in fact it offers a completely accessible experience that allows anyone to jump on and give it a shot. Despite the multiple buttons that are available on the Xbox 360 controller, Phantom Breaker only uses four actual attacks, three of which performing basic attacks while the final one controls special attacks that take advantage of each of the characters’ unique abilities and unique fighting styles as each character plays completely different form one another and has their own strengths and weaknesses that can be understood with little effort.
One thing that some people have said about Phantom Breaker’s gameplay trailers so far is that the game is a bit slow and that couldn’t be further from the truth. There are multiple special attacks and abilities that can be used via a meter in the bottom corner of the screen that fills up as you give and receive damage, as well as perform various special feats in combat. These feats range from yours and your opponents weapon clashing, dashing into each other, deflecting blows and more, creating a tense battle scene as the animation flashes often as players duel against one another. When this gauge reaches its max potential, players can unleash a devastating ultra-deadly technique that has the potential to swing the fight in their favor even on the brink of defeat, keeping the battle tense until the final blow is struck.
To add a bit more variety into the mix, there are even two Overdrive styles that players can select to best fit their fighting style. The Quick Overdrive mode allows players to slow down time and deal out multiple attacks as their opponent slows to a crawl while a Hard Overdrive style allows players to take any incoming attack and still finish theirs without any interruption. Both Overdrive and ultra-deadly techniques can be activated extremely easily with a press of the shoulder and trigger buttons on the controller, making them simple to unleash and quite effective.
In today’s day and age, fighting against CPU opponents or other people online can do it for some people, and there will be plenty of that available once the game is released stateside, but what about some sort of story? Well don’t worry about that my friends; Phantom Breaker in fact contains a story for all of the original characters that the game starts out with, offering some story for each of these characters as players make their way through a series of fights. Even Arcade Mode offers some nice character interaction as the victorious character says a few words to their fallen opponent.
Perhaps one of the most divisive features of Phantom Breaker is its art style. Phantom Breaker doesn’t even try to skirt around the fact that the game’s artistic style is focused heavily on anime, as there are multiple characters that fit into moe archetypes. The anime stylings found in Phantom Breaker are quit stunning and this is no more evident when players uncover the existence of two guest characters from the popular anime series ChäoS;HEAd and Steins;Gate in the form of Rimi and Kurisu respectively.
Phantom Breaker breathes a breath of fresh air into the fighting genre by offering us something different. Among all of the increasingly complicated fighting series stands a newcomer looking to make a name for itself in North America. With an aesthetically pleasing art style and simplistic but enjoyable combat Phantom Breaker is certainly set to make waves when it is released in mid-April exclusively on the Xbox 360.
Do you want to know something even better? You have a chance to win a copy of Phantom Breaker as well as a copy of ChäoS;HEAd right here on Capsule Computers courtesy of 7sixty.
The latest EA Mobile Update is out with this week’s news on EA Mobile new releases and sales.
First off, The sequel to the hit game Flight Control is out. Flight Control Rocket is available for purchase on the iTunes store. The game features 15 different space crafts, a customizable mother ship, and an improved Flight Control experience.
Next, the beloved EA Sports NBA Jam is available on Google Play. Tim Kritzrow returns to provide play by play for NBA Jam. The game features three modes of play and includes all 30 teams from the NBA and their star players. Legendary players from the original NBA Jam can be unlocked alongside outrageous cheats.
Fans of football aren’t forgotten either with the release of FIFA 12 to Google Play. 500 teams and all the favorite players are ready to play for some of the best football leagues in the world in 32 real world stadiums. Worms fans can rejoice! Those with Java phones can now enjoy Worms Reloaded with 28 levels to do battle on across 7 game modes wielding 35 weapons and utilities. New to the game are the Marked for Death, Worship and Emergency Teleport items.
Sims FreePlay sees an update this week. Relationships can now blossom into marriage and the baby in the carriage. Not interested in getting hitched? No problem! Sims can now move into new houses, allowing players to move into an empty house, forever alone or with their best friends for the ultimate party house.
iPad games are on sale this week. Notable titles on sale includes Dead Space, Tetris, Trenches 2, Real Racing 2 and more.
The Creative Assembly provides a final dev-diary containing in-depth information about modernized weapons, third person mode, and multiplayer options in Total War: Shogun 2 – Fall of the Samurai.
Modernized weapons bring upon an entirely new strategy as Gatling guns, cannons, and even torpedoes are thrown into the mix. Upgrading forces becomes increasingly important as the days of the samurai falter and the new age weaponry replace the honor of a blade. Bows become misplaced as firearms are more effective and can spread devastation quicker. If you fail in battle, are you one to die with by your blade or run in shame?
The newly added third person mode throws a player into the battle controlling individual combat units. Within the video, you can see how the developer changes modes to take control of the Gatling gun and cannons. By taking over the cannons, you will ever get to follow the projectile as the cannonball hits enemy forces. While this mode may prove useful, you may become overwhelmed in battle if you do not switch to control other units movements.
Check out the video below to find out more information, and join in the fun on March 23, 2012. Please note that the purchase of the original Total War: Shogun 2 is not necessary to play the game. Pre-order Total War: Shogun 2 – Fall of the Samurai on Steam.
Not only do we have confirmation from Blizzard that Diablo III will be released on May 15, 2012, but gamers will also get to pre-order this anticipated title beginning today. Finally unleashed from the Burning Hells, Diablo III can be yours today for only $59.99 (USD).
The question that bears in my mind is “what other versions will we get to see?” Most titles offer a collector’s edition or even a premium digital release, and a game of this caliber should be no different. Being able to pre-order Diablo III certainly marks a place in Blizzard history, but I am patient enough to wait this out and see what other versions become available.
Additionally, people can still partake in the World of Warcraft Annual Pass and receive a free digital copy of Diablo III. If you play World of Warcraft avidly, this deal would be an excellent decision considering the bonuses involved: guaranteed WoW beta entry, Tyrael’s Charger mount. For more information on the Annual Pass follow the link (here).
If you wish to pre-order the digital copy of Diablo III, you must have a valid Battle.net account to do so. Order now, and prepare for the End of Days.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Grasshopper Manufacture have revealed the voice actors that worked with filmmaker James Gunn (Super, Slither, Dawn of the Dead) on Lollipop Chainsaw. A game as demented as it is colourful, Lollipop Chainsaw demands a top notch voice cast to flesh out the characters. Taking part in the project are;
Tara Strong, the renowned voice behind dozens of video game and cartoon characters, including Harley Quinn in last year’s Batman: Arkham City, stars as the game’s central protagonist, Juliet Starling. Michael Rosenbaum, known for his role as Lex Luthor in Smallville, voices the disembodied head of her boyfriend Nick.
Outside of the two leads, the rest of the cast is no less impressive with names appearing from all over the film and television industry. Checking in to bring some verve to Cordelia is Linda Cardelleni, known best as Lindsay Weir from the cult classic Freaks and Geeks. Shawnee Smith, one of the stars of the first four Saw films and Michael Rooker, of Walking Dead and Slither, also appear in the game. Veteran TV and film actor Gregg Henry (24, United 93, Black Dahlia) takes on the role of Juliet’s father and brings all the flair one would assume given his Elvis-inspired pompadour and roots as one of the greatest zombie hunters ever.
Swan, Romero High School’s resident goth, will be played by James’ brother Sean Gunn, who has also appeared in the 2010 film Super and Gilmore Girls. The final piece to this puzzle is the impressive set of lungs on rocker Jimmy Urine from the band Mindless Self Indulgence. On top of contributing to the game’s soundtrack, Jimmy lends his voice talent to the deranged Zed.
Lollipop Chainsaw comes to Xbox 360 and PS3 on 15th June this year.
Some massive news from Atlus games as they have unveiled some more of the upcoming Game Of Thrones gameplay via a trailer that showcases the games Combat System and gives a glimpse into some gameplay. For anyone who has been walking around with their eyes closed, Game of Thrones is a massive HBO hit TV show based on George.R.R.Martins Song of Ice and Fire Fantasy novels. The game takes place during the first book and allows unique gameplay by allowing players to control 2 seperate characters (Mors and Alester), through their seperate journeys culminating in them joining a common path, each attributed with unique abilities and weaponry. The trailer is commentated by Aram Jarrabi, Atlus PR manager who introduces what he calls “the core of the games combat system”, The Active Pause System. This allows players to slow down time in the heat of real time battles and allow them to use skills and give orders to allies to gain victory over the enemy. He goes on to describe the differences in characters including their varying classes, skills and weaponry available to them to use, and although each character has preferences in combat such as long or short ranged techniques, they can be modified via the multi class system to your own personal preferences.
Game of Thrones will be available on 15th May 2012 for XBox 360, Ps3 and PC so catch up on the books and tv series before it comes out and get ready the epic adventure.
Munch Time Developer: Gamistry Publisher: Gamistry Platforms: iPhone (reviewed), iPad, iPod Touch Release Date: February 13 Price: $0.99 (HERE)
Overview
If you get a feeling of deja-vu while looking at screenshots of Munch Time, you could probably be forgiven. A cartoon animal platforming across various levels, all of which include three collectible stars, is nothing if not the ordinary in today’s mobile games. Does this chameleon’s adventure stand out from the rest, or does it blend in to the forgettable background?
Gameplay
Munch Time puts you in control of an adorable little chameleon named Munch. As you can probably infer from his name, Munch likes to eat; squirmy, juicy grubs in particular are one of his favourites. So it’s up to you to get him across dozens of levels so that he can get his little reptilian belly full of yummy protein-rich bugs. And try to collect the stars along the way!
At it’s core, Munch Time is a two-dimensional, physics-based platformer, and the game succeeds in getting the best out of a simple tap control scheme for this purpose. Munch can grab onto various flowers with his tongue to traverse the game’s levels. These flowers each have different effects on platforming, doing everything from spinning Munch around, to turning into cannons ala Donkey Kong, to helicoptering Munch upwards.
To take into consideration when using any of these is Munch’s momentum and direction. The angle and distance from which you grasp on to a flower and the timing of your release of it will invariably affect how effective you are in moving Munch across levels and in collecting those pesky three stars that are on every level (and yes, they’re just as addictive to collect here as it in other titles). Also, flowers are only activated when Munch is a certain colour, so to use blue flowers rather than green ones, you must first guide him to a blue colour-blob (it’s never made too clear why there are paint-drops left in suspended animation out in the wild, but it serves the game, so I’ll let it slide) which will change his appearance to (you guessed it) blue.
Aside from the challenge of star-collection, however, the level design of the game is a bit basic. You’ll breeze through most of the first “world” of levels and only be slightly more challenged in the second. That said, an update has recently been released for the game and the new levels and new flower type add quite solidly to the established formula, and if Gamistry keep it up, you’ll have reason to return Munch Time in the coming weeks.
All in all, Munch Time gives players a solid platforming experience that cleverly uses a simple control scheme. It can, however, be argued that the game is too simplistic in both its difficulty and control scheme, and to really get a lot out of it, you’ll have to hope that Gamistry keep the updates coming.
Audio & Visual
Graphically, Munch Time doesn’t do anything spectacular. Yes, Munch is a cute little chameleon and the levels are vibrantly coloured, but there are many games out there that have provided far better renditions of the cartoon style. Its presentation is simply average in almost every way.
The game’s sound design is similarly lacking in distinctiveness. The standard for a title is to provide a merry menu theme and cutesy sound effects in-level, and Munch Time achieves this. But again, it doesn’t really go above the usual, and it fails to differentiate itself from the myriad similar titles out there.
Overall
Munch Time is a game that does what it needs to do well, but no better. It does not stand out particularly from similar products on the market, and its simplicity does no favours to its longevity, but if you’re looking for a new physics-based adventure to take with you on your morning commute, Munch Time should help to pleasantly occupy your time.
The upcoming vehicle combat video game, Wheels of Destruction, is set to be released exclusively for the PlayStation Network. Today we get some more information on the game as well as a new gameplay trailer.
Wheels of Destruction is set to feature five different classes of combat vehicles, one of which is ‘The Assassin’. This is the third class of vehicles shared thus far, with two more classes to be unveiled in the coming months. The other two classes revealed before The Assassin were The Scout and The Heavy. The Assassin class offers a faster and precise fire rate compared to the other classes.
You can check out this new vehicle class in action in the trailer below.
