Welcome Glassbox, the new Simcity physics engine that will power one of the most anticipated returns to the industry, and EA have unveiled a new trailer showcasing the engine and what it brings to the Simcity name. Dan Moskowitz, Game Lead on the project explain some of the ins and outs of the engine and how it uses resources, units and effects to give a real one to one representation of what the simulation is doing. The environments are highly detailed and the maps clearly define the resources available to use as well as giving a general idea of the terrain right down to the structural layer of the underneath earth. He goes on to explain the importance of agents in the game which are essentially used to transport various resources and items around the virtual cities and act as a catalyst for simulations. Please enjoy the trailer and let us know what you think so far remembering this is a simulation video not a representation of the graphics engine and abilities.
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations Developer: Cyberconnect2 Publisher: Namco Bandai Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (Reviewed) Release Date: March 13, 2012 Price: $59.99 – Available Here
Overview:
It is no stretch of the imagination that a successful media property receive a video game adaptation. Movies receive them all the time, usually resulting in a lackluster and forgettable title that damages the reputation of the original media. However there is a certain type of media which often thrives whenever a video game is made pertaining to it, and that media is anime.
While we’ve seen a few anime video games released in North America over the years, the most prevalent series is the series of Naruto games. Naruto may be extremely popular in Japan but it is just as popular here in the West, meaning Namco Bandai of course has brought over the most recent iteration of the Naruto video game series, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations. Should we believe that this is the best Naruto game yet?
Story:
Anyone who has paid any attention to the Naruto series since it began over two decade ago know everything that needs to be known about the basic story of Naruto but for those who don’t, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations won’t be leaving you in the dark, because one of the biggest changes made in this game is how the story telling is handled.
Past Ultimate Ninja Storm games featured free roaming systems where players would navigate through various environments in the Naruto world and encounter enemies that they would have to battle against. Rather than including that same free roaming mechanic again, Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations provides a streamlined storyline system full of action.
To be more specific, players will be provided a streamlined story that moves the player from one battle to the next with exposition in-between. While some may view the loss of free roam as a detriment, the implementation of faster battles with story presented in-between in glorious fashion far surpasses anything that could have been found in a free roam mechanic that slowed down the entire process. Unfortunately this also means that the large boss battles that were found in past games have been entirely removed, which is disappointing as some of these battles were amazing experiences.
Now it is worth noting that Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations also revamps the story mode by providing a number of side plots that can be played that happen during the official Naruto storyline. This means that while you can play the original storyline of Naruto and see how everything began and follow the official storyline of the Naruto Shippuden series, these stories follow other Hidden Leaf ninjas and main characters from the game and actually are being considered canon into the Naruto storyline.
This means that even those who have religiously watched and read every ounce of Naruto’s storyline since its release can still find some new content here as they see never before seen storylines unfold in front of them. In the end there is something new here for everyone as they playthrough a streamlined story mode that does what no other Naruto game has done in the past, actually make you feel like you are fighting inside of an anime episode.
Visuals:
The reason for that is simple. In-between story mode battles players will be provided amazingly drawn anime stills pulled from the anime itself and presented in high quality. To make things even more exciting however, there is a very large number of brand new anime footage that is not only presented in HD but is also handled by the exact same team that handles the Naruto Shippudden anime. This means that the story may often present some anime storytelling and then drop you straight into your fight, making it feel like you’re actually in the anime itself at times.
The fighting itself and the character designs are absolutely wonderful to behold as every single character looks the same exact way they do from the anime. Players are presented with numerous stages to battle on with a plethora of bright colors keeping with the anime’s aesthetic.
Audio:
For a series like Naruto that has not only a devoted following who enjoys listening to the English dubs but also a vast amount of people who stay up to date with the Japanese episodes via Crunchyroll. As such there are those who enjoy both the English voice actors and those who would rather listen to the Japanese voices.
Thankfully, Namco Bandai has included both of these voice tracks and to make things even better the official voice actors from the anime reprise their roles. As an added bonus, all of the same theme songs and battle music used in the anime transitions flawlessly to the game as well.
Gameplay:
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations is one of the few fighting games out there that has a decent amount of complexity to its battle system with a whole slew of mechanics but one of the nicest features about Generations’ combat is the fact that everything feels simple to pull off without a whole lot of difficulty. This opens the accessibility of the title to practically any fan of Naruto, even those who aren’t able to enter large complicated strings of inputs to perform specific actions.
With the removal of free roam, Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations is a core fighting game that pits the player against one enemy to battle against, though each fighter can have two support characters as well. Players are given your standard attack inputs such as pressing B to begin a combo attack, blocking, ranged attacks as well as a button to charge up your chakra meter. If players choose to overcharge their chakra meter they can enter a mode known as “awakened” mode which will make some basic characters stronger, but for certain characters such as Naruto he will enter his tailed beast chakra form, increasing his power and offering new attacks. One of the newly adjusted features is the way “substitutions” work.
Substitution jutsus can still be pulled off with a press of the button easily however players are given a limit of how many they are able to use, with the meter filling up slowly as you take damage. This doesn’t mean however that there won’t be plenty of countering back and forth as you and your opponent use multiple substitutions to avoid being combo locked.
As one can imagine, every character has their own special chakra based attacks such as Naruto’s Rasengan and so on. These moves require your chakra meter to be filled up a certain amount to be used with a near fully charged meter allowing players to use a special Ultimate attack. However this Ultimate attack can easily be abused as there is no limit on how many times it can be used in one battle. This means of course that players could potentially face up to three Ultimate attacks in one battle. As such, there are plenty of times that battles are far from balanced and there are a number of characters with exploitable moves that feel cheap and overly powerful.
However you have to give CyberConnect2 credit… while past Naruto titles have had a whole lot of characters to work with already, Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations offers a jaw dropping roster of over 70 fighters that can be used when they are all unlocked. These fighters include nearly every ninja from the Naruto storyline, though it is worth noting that there are more than a few versions of some characters. Though it may be a bit obvious, Naruto and Sasuke for example take up nearly 10 roster spots on their own.
Besides the story mode there are a number of other fighting modes available for consumption as well for single player fans. There is a tournament mode, an endless battle mode that is similar to survival mode and of course the chance to face off against a buddy locally. Besides these options there is also the online mode that allows players to take their skills online. However while playing online I experienced a decent amount of lag in numerous battles and here is where the unbalanced fighting mechanics truly shine as many exploits are well known already and used often by the online community.
Overall:
Those who’ve paid attention throughout the review should easily be able to guess the words that are about to come next. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations will likely be viewed as the best Naruto game that has been released so far. By providing streamlined ninja action with a revamped story structure and easy to understand but fun combat there are only a few things holding it back from being great.
Magna Pacific have confirmed with us the release date for the upcoming second season release of the Pokemon: Black and White anime series. The 14th season of the Pokemon anime and the 2nd season of the Black and White series is scheduled for release on DVD throughout Australia on the 6th of June, 2012.
We have previously reviewed the first season of Pokemon: Black and White which can be seen here and we also reviewed both movies based upon the Black and White series which can be seen here.
Interestingly enough the release coincides with the release of the video-game sequels Black and White 2, which will be released in the same month, making for one hell of a Pokemonth.
In the mood for some new games on your new Android 2 Smartphone or Tablet PC? Want something that isn’t shovelware designed to cheat you out of $7 with crappy controls and a poor interface scheme? Why not go indie and buy a game from the Humble Bundle #2 on the Humble Bundle website.
Included in this bundle are a small handful of games, which are “Zen Bound 2, Avadon: The Black Fortress (Android version is tablet-only), Canabalt, and Cogs!”. These look like some quality games, and we have reviewed the PC version of Avadon, which can be viewed here.
The bundle will only be around for the next 14-days, so be sure to check out this deal here before it is too late.
There has been quite a bit of news surrounding the upcoming anime adaptation of NisiOisn’s manga, Medaka Box and now after two previously Medaka Box character trailers we are treated to yet another. This time focusing on Medaka Box character, Shiranui Hansode.
You can check out the Shiranui character trailer below. Shiranui is Medaka Box’s resident Moe character and friend of the titular character Medaka Kurokami.
The series is set to premiere next month in Japan as part of the Spring 2012 anime season. An official website for the anime series has also launched and can be seen here. Be sure to let us know what you think of the Shiranui trailer in the comments section below.
During their recent Kawaii Kon panel, Sentai Filmworks revealed that they have intentions of releasing and dubbing more of the Gintama anime series, pertaining that the soon to be released dub version of Gintama: The Movie sells well in the U.S.
Sentai confirmed that if the film does well financially, that they will most likely dub the currently licensed first 49 episodes (which they released in sub only format previously) and license and release more episodes of the series.
So it looks like good news for Gintama fans and also a call to arms for them to purchase the upcoming movie release. The film is scheduled to hit shelves on DVD and Blu-Ray later this year.
Mass Effect has created one of the deepest universes in contemporary video games, and now, thanks to some handy iOS apps, you can fit the world of Mass Effect in your pocket.
First off came Mass Effect Infiltrator, whose campaign could provide direct benefits to your Galactic Readiness in Mass Effect 3. Now EA have announced that those of you who own the new iPad are in for a spectacular visual treat, as the iOS app has been optimized for the higher processing power and resolution of Apple’s new device. That means that you get to see an already pretty game in, well, even prettier.
Beyond that, EA have also recently released a companion app for Mass Effect 3. Mass Effect Datapad is a completely free application in which players can receive text messages from in-game characters as they complete certain missions and conversations in Mass Effect 3. On top of that, it comes with the fully featured (including the audio bits) Codex from the Mass Effect games, as well as a minigame through which you can increase your Galactic Readiness. Be sure to check this one out! What can you lose? It’s free.
What do you think of these iOS tie ins? Is taking the game world with you something you wish more franchises would do? Sound off below!
Doomsday III: Base Ganymede Publisher:Apple Developer: General Arcade Platforms: iPod Touch, iPad and iPhone (Reviewed) Release Date: March 12, 2012 Price:$0.99 – Available Here
Overview
Doomsday III was developed using the source code of Doom Classic (or the id Tech 1 engine) and is the product of the the community project Freedom. In the description of the game on the App Store, General Arcade states that “All our work will be contributed back to the community.”
So, although it is not a straight port of the classic shooter, Doomsday III: Base Ganymede is obviously very closely related to the series. However, Doom was made to be played on the PC. Can this game overcome the limitations of iOS devices and deliver a quality experience?
Gameplay
Really, there has never been much to the story in Doom games, so I think its best to skip it in this review. Suffice it to say, there was a base that got attacked and this soldier dude has to fight off strange alien creatures. End of plot.
Funny as it may seem, that basically sums up the gameplay too. Playing as the soldier mentioned above, you will explore a variety of locales and fight off increasingly crazy and creepy enemies. As is standard in Doom games, you will start off with a simple pistol. However, there are numerous weapons to be found in the game. Within about 5 minutes I had found a shotgun and I was blowing up giant worms like a maniac. In total, there are 9 weapons to be found in Doomsday III, each more fun than the last.
One featureI really appreciated was that I did not have to unlock any levels. I could jump into any one whenever I felt like it. This really helped me not get bored with the game, because if I could not get past a level, I could just go right into a new one and start playing that one.
One reason why Doom is popular is that it is known to be a difficult game. And that part of the gameplay has certainly transitioned into this game. There are a plethora of bad guys to fight and the enemy variety is nothing short of amazing. I was shocked that my phone never slowed down while I was playing the game, as there were literally about 10+ enemies at a time on the screen in almost every area.
Nevertheless, this difficulty also presents problems. Being based on an accurate control system, Doom has problems when it is transported to a touch control system. While touch controls can be accurate and provide a good experience for many games, shooters seem to suffer on the platform. General Arcade attempted to solve this by offering customization options: it is possible to move the buttons anywhere you want on the screen. In addition, they offered 3-4 different control button combinations. Try hard as they might though, Doomsday III still is extremely frustrating to control when using the plain touch controls. It felt like I was always having to fight the controls, or that I was dying simply because my reticule was wildly meandering across the screen. It should be noted that Doomsday III also includes support for the 60beat GamePad and the Fling, but I was unable to test them out, so the game may be better if it is played with one of these accessories.
Audio and Visuals
Doomsday III: Base Ganymede gives the user the option to download 11 additional soundtracks. However, these take up quite a bit of space, and I would say that the standard soundtrack already present in Doomsday is more than enough to complement the gameplay. Nevertheless, the additional music is quite good, and if you can spare the memory, it may be worth it, especially if you are a hardcore Doom fan.
This game certainly is not the prettiest iOS game out there, but it is reasonably well rendered. Being based off the orignal game, it should come as no surprise that the graphics are a little on the rough side, with lots of blockiness being present. Nonetheless, it certainly looks almost exactly like DOOM and that ought to bring back a lot of memories for most folks. Plus, watching blocky blood effects spatter from dead aliens is always fun.
Overall
In conclusion, if you are an addict of Doom and just can’t enough of it, I wholeheartedly recommend Doomsday III: Base Ganymede. Being able to play through 29 levels while you are on route to somewhere is satsifying in the most immense way. Nevertheless, the inaccuracy of the controls is annoying, and I was shocked that General Arcade did not include any multiplayer options. All in all, I would say that for $0.99, you are getting your moneys worth though.
Have you finished it yet? Chances are that you’ve ploughed a lot of time into a particular sci-fi galaxy this week, but what about the multiplayer? Coming in as a surprisingly strong addition to the series, Mass Effect 3’s co-op multiplayer is well worth a try, and it’ll even boost your Galaxy at War readiness.
EA and BioWare have just released two new multiplayer focused videos to help you up your game, one focusing on the enemies you’ll encounter and the other on the classes you can play as. Along for the informative ride are Senior Combat Designer Corey Gaspur and Gameplay Designer Eric Fagnan.
There are some useful little snippets in both videos, although veterans of the mode will probably be hearing nothing new. So take your mind off that elephant in the room and give ME3’s other option a bit of attention. You can catch the enemy focused video above, and check out a bit more detail about the games many classes below.
EA Sports has released FIFA 12 and the NBA Jam to the masses today on Google Play.
FIFA 12 features top of the line graphics, famous footballers like Kaka and Rooney, 32 real stadiums, major football leagues such as MLS and La Liga, and daily challenges to keep you playing. NBA Jam is also released, bringing the classic game to 2012. Featuring the biggest stars from each of the 30 NBA teams playing 2 on 2 arcade basketball and Tim Kritzrow’s return as the announcer, NBA Jam has three modes of play and unlockable legends from the classic arcade game and crazy cheats. FIFA 12 and NBA Jam are both available for $4.99 on the Google Play store.
