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Street Fighter X Tekken Review

March 10, 2012

Street Fighter X Tekken
Publisher: Capcom (Tekken characters licensed by Namco)
Developer: Capcom
Platforms: PlayStation 3, PS, Vita, PC, Xbox 360 (Reviewed)
Release Date: March 6, 2012
Price: $59.99 – Available Here

Overview
While there are many fighting games on the market today, Street fighter is probably the most well known. One of the few franchises that reaches the same level of popularity is Tekken. Therefore, when the announcement was made that these two great series would collide,
it was met with great celebration and excitement on the part of fans who loved both franchises. Finally, they would be able to pit their favorite characters from each series against one another.

This combination of licenses obviously presented problems. Both games have very different fighting styles, and they are also very different graphically. Street Fighter is set in a 2D landscape, while Tekken is built on a 3D fighting game engine. Instead of trying to force each style of gameplay into each other, Capcom decided to design the gameplay to be similar to their Street Fighter franchise, meaning that while it features sets of characters from Street Fighter and Tekken, it is set in 2D and has projectile moves such as the Hadouken. Namco Bandai is currently a developing a sequel to this game titled Tekken X Street Fighter, which will base its gameplay on the Tekken universe.

So, did Capcom succeed in balancing these two very different games? Is Street Fighter X Tekken able to overcome the challenges mentioned above and succeed as a cross-genre fighter? Or is it destined to become one of those fighting games that falls by the wayside, confined to the bargains bins at Gamestop? Read on to find out.

Story
Video games are unique in that the story usually comes second to gameplay. In Street Fighter X Tekken, this uniqueness becomes all the more true. When choosing the story mode, there is a cutscene that explains what the story is all about. I couldn’t really get into it but for you dear reader, I shall try my best to describe it.

There was a meteor that fell to Earth, but the meteor was actually a strange object, in the shape of a box. While no one could understand what its purpose was, all acknowledged that it had a special property: when people were in conflict around the box, they would gain special powers. As a result, the box was named “Pandora.” One organization of people wanted to steal the box so they could use its special powers. Of course, there were those who wished the box to be left alone. Which explains why people are fighting in the entire game.

All in all, I found the story to be rote, uncomprehensible and just simply awful in the worst way. While it explains why there are some new features in the game, and why there are two different groups of beings fighting, I think it might have been preferable to merely have an explanation beforehand, instead of bothering with even trying to have a full fledged story.

Nevertheless, I really can’t fault Capcom for the story. Fighting games have never really been known to have any semblance of a story that made sense. Therefore, it would be unfair to fault them for not having a good story in this game. However, it is important to note that you should not buy this game for the plot. Luckily, the gameplay more than makes up for any faults in the story.

Gameplay
As mentioned, Street Fighter X Tekken is very similar to the Street Fighter series. You choose two characters from either Street Fighter or Tekken and they are controlled with a 6-button system (although Tekken characters can be controlled with a 4 button system). A gauge known as the Cross Gauge will fill up when attacking, defending and taking damage. Depending on the fullness of the gauge, different powerful combos can be exectued, like EX Attacks, Cancels, Super Arts and various Cross techniques. When a player is weak, he can tag in the character in reserve and regain health. Characters can also be tagged in as a result of performing a certain combo, like a Cross Rush. Some combos even allow both characters to combine their attacks, although that requires a stocked Cross Gauge. When one character’s health bar reaches zero, that team will lose.

Street Fighter X Tekken introduces two new gameplay mechanics: Gems and Pandora mode. Gems are upgrades that can substantially change combat. In addition, gems can tremendously help gamers who are new to the fighting genre. Each character, Street Fighter or Tekken, can be equipped with up to three gems. Each gem either has stat boosting abilities, or can make certain moves easier to perform. They are classified into 6 different categories: attack, defense, speed, vitality, assist, and Cross Gauge. If a player is having trouble with a particular control for a certain character, like an EX Attack for example, one gem can be used to make the controls to start that attack easier.

Pandora Mode gives players a risk/reward gameplay element. When one of the characters on-screen has less than 25% health, he can be sacrificed. In turn, the remaing fighter gets increased strength and a full Cross Gauge. However, if this fighter can not win the match by the time Pandora Mode runs out, he will automatically forfeit.

Street Fighter X Tekken has a variety of multiplayer options. 4 player matches, Scramble mode (where four players fight fight simultaneously in pairs of two), online training modes and the Fight Request feature are all a part of the multiplayer experience. And multiplayer is, as usual, much better than single player. Playing against a live opponenet is just so much better than a computer.

Overall, the balance in Street Fighter X Tekken is top notch. Every single move, while powerful and totally cool, an also be defended against. Pitting the characters from each franchise against each other was very fun, as was going online to beat up others. Due to the variety of characters , the game feels totally different than Street Fighter, but it still retains all the great features that Street Fighter has.

Although the tutorial is better than the one in Ultimate vs Marvel Capcom 3, it is still not a great experience. It will give new fighting gamers a tiny bit of help to hone their skills, but it does little besides display the controls needed to pull off a certain move. Whats more, Capcom did not even voice the tutorial, forcing people to read blocks of awfully constructed dialogue.

Visuals and Audio
Graphics in the game are outstanding. The backgrounds of each fight are particularly noteworthy. Rather than just bland, stationary blobs of art, they are full of little details and funny goings-on. In addition to the whimsical backgrounds though, character models, fighting moves and cutscenes are also beautiful. I did not notice a small amount of freezing after the loading screens and once a fight was over, but these do not detract from the experience.

The soundtrack is well suited to the gameplay. Voice acting for each of the characters was also spot on. Other than that, there really isn’t much to say about the audio. While I enjoyed it, I didn’t hear anything too special.

Overall
In conclusion, Street Fighter X Tekken will appeal to a wide variety of gamers. Although it is certainly not a universal game, hardcore fighting nerds as well as newcomers will have a great time playing, just so long as they don’t play each other. While the basics are fairly easy to master, seeing the whole scope of the game and coming up with a preferred strategy (as well as some backups) will take a little bit of time for newcomers. The new features, like Gems and Pandora Mode, add some features that are great to play around with and base strategy on. Marrying these two amazing series together was truly an awesome idea, and I am glad that it just didn’t turn out to be a gimmick, but rather, a well exectued game.

Nevertheless, a weak story, an annoying tutorial system and an overly complicated user interface do make the game a little less fun to experience. That being said, the complex fighting system is a joy to control, and I had a smile on my face while I was playing Street Fighter X Tekken.

Black Lagoon Manga Returning?

Luke Halliday

March 10, 2012

Rei Hiroe the author of popular seinen manga series Black Lagoon has confirmed his intentions to return from hiatus and continue the Black Lagoon manga. The manga has been on hiatus for roughly 2 years so this is good news for fans of Black Lagoon.

Hiroe stated his concerns with returning but remained resolute that he will continue the manga, “Though I’m dying to draw, I’m scared to actually draw it. If it were not this hard, I wouldn’t have had to take as long as two years off.”

Black Lagoon follows a Japanese business man who finds himself wound up stuck in a violent port town in Thailand working for a group of pirates.

There is no confirmed return date set in stone just yet, but it is certainly reassuring to know that a return is confirmed to be happening sometime soon.

Rurouni Kenshin Live-Action Poster

Luke Halliday

March 10, 2012

The theatrical poster for the live-action adaptation of Nobuhiro Watsuki’s legendary samurai manga classic Rurouni Kenshin has been revealed. The poster features the photography of award-winning photographer Kazumi Kurigami.

The poster can be seen to the left (click to enlarge), it features Himura Kenshin in a gray scale with the infamous red ‘X’ highlight in front of him, with the tag line ‘Watch out for the Nice Guy’ blazoned besides him.

What do you think of the poster for the Live-action Rurouni Kenshin film? Let us know in the shoutbox and comments section. The film is set to premiere across Japan on the 25th of August, 2012.

Mass Effect Infiltrator Review

Julien Durand

March 10, 2012

Mass Effect Infiltrator
Developer: Iron Monkey Studios
Publisher: EA Games
Platform: iPhone (reviewed), iPad, iPod Touch
Release Date: March 6
Price: $6.99 (HERE)

Overview

Mass Effect 3 is a game so massive that, much like blockbuster movie releases, it’s getting its own licensed video game for the iOS platforms. Mass Effect Infiltrator is a touch-based third-person shooter that puts you in charge of a Cerberus agent who turns against the diabolical, conspiracy-ridden enterprise. With Iron Monkey Studios, the developers of the award-winning iOS rendition of Dead Space, in charge of the game and the high production values associated with EA and Mass Effect, is this one of the rare licensed games that plays like a charm, or should it be left in the grisly tentacles of the Reapers?

Story

There is no “BioWare” tag associated with Mass Effect Infiltrator. If there had been, perhaps players would have felt a little duped by the promise such a tag brings with it.

The story is as basic as it gets: you play as Randall Ezno, a Cerberus agent with cybernetic implants who gathers up aliens for scientific testing. A charmer, in other words. When Randall’s partner back at the Cerberus base is abducted by her own company for testing, he gets a little angry and decides it’s time to blow up the joint and its malevolent Director with the help of the Human Alliance. That’s it.

A basic story isn’t always a bad thing, and in the few moments of dialogue of Infiltrator the writing can actually be compelling, but for the most part, as you advance through the base, you’ll mainly be hearing menacing one-liners from the aforementioned Director.

He’s evil see? Evil people say mean things while you wander through their corridors, and they do it a lot. As such, the game becomes a bit of a grind leading into the closing chapters of the story.

On top of that, there are some bits of story that don’t really seem to make sense within the established world of Mass Effect. In the very first mission, I was confused to be fighting Turian Soldiers and Geth Snipers who appeared to be on the same side. Not really what I’d call lore appropriate.

The ending is left a little open-ended, but to its credit Infiltrator tries for the same tone of loss and despair as Mass Effect 3. Though it does not come close to reaching those heights in terms of pulling at your own heartstrings, it does a good job of showing Randall Ezno’s pain at the tragedy that has befallen him.

Gameplay

Mass Effect Infiltrator should feel familiar to play for anyone who has played the console Mass Effect titles. There’s crates, walls, and conveniently placed benches to be used as cover while enemies pour forth from various doors in an area. From your “I’m behind the safest workbench in the galaxy!” perch you can shoot, use biotic abilities, and cloak to move around undetected.

Of course, converting shooting mechanics from the console versions and attempting to implement them with touch-based replicas of analogue sticks would have been both difficult to design well and frustrating to play, so I’m happy to say that Iron Monkey opted for a touch-based shooting mechanic instead. Players will tap the enemy they wish to target and then, using the recently maligned touch-based analogue-stick-wannabes, they can aim at a certain part of the target’s body to do extra damage (usually the head).

Ezno can switch between assault rifles, snipers, and shotguns to help in his vengeful quest, and can use the biotic abilities Pull and Leash to suspend enemies in mid-air and throw them about like useless puppets. Personally, I found Pull more effective, as it can rip the shields off of the annoying Cerberus riot troops and tear snipers out of their perches, and at later stages you can target multiple enemies with it, so you can do both the shield and sniper pulling in a manner that’s adaptive to whatever battlefield you’re on.

Infiltrator features a good deal of enemy variety. At the expense of explaining why others gunning for Cerberus aren’t working with you (you’d assume once you and the escaped prisoners realized you were both shooting the same people that you’d fight together), you’ll never know whether there’s a Krogan battle unit, Geth juggernaut, Asari prsioner, or sniper team waiting to blow your head off just around the corner.

So with all the stuff it’s throwing at you, it’s good that the game features a robust cover system. In fact, I found moving from cover to cover in Infiltrator to be far more effective than in Mass Effect 3. Sure, it can be weird that Ezno does massive somersaults to travel between distant pieces of cover, but in terms of gameplay, it just works. This is where the game truly excels, and therefore it’s a shame that though these mechanics serve you well throughout the four to five hours of the game, the two boss battles involve a lot of running and gunning. Using the aforementioned, and still much maligned, touch-based analogue-stick wannabes.

Based on your performance, the game awards you credits after every battle, and using those you can upgrade your armour, abilities, and weapons. It’s not the deepest system in the world, but you’ll definitely feel the results of your investments. You can also gather intel from defeated enemies and use this to either increase your Galactic Readiness rating in Mass Effect 3 or garner some additional credits.

You’ll occasionally find a Cerberus scientist hidden in a room and the screen will freeze and ask, “Paragon or Renegade?” Though attempting to mimic the choices of Mass Effect games, these bear no overall consequence and so mean little. I just switched between them depending on my mood at the time. The game really could have done without this as Mass Effect is about more than binary choices.

Regardless of issues, Infiltrator does a good job at being an iOS cover-based shooter, and it needs to be commended for that. Most combat arenas are challenging and fun, and the checkpointing doesn’t leave too much to be desired.

Audio & Visual

Mass Effect Infiltrator is great to look at. Though some of the environments get repetitive, the graphical fidelity always remains. It’s most definitely one of the better looking games on the platform, and, in visuals at least, it does a good job of capturing the look of the Mass Effect universe.

When a game prompts you to “plug in headphones for best experience”, you know you’re in for something pretty good, and, indeed, the sound design of the game matches the visual presentation. The sounds of guns bear the necessary impact, a few good tracks are lifted from the Mass Effect games, and the voice acting, though not spectacular, does its job well. Ezno in particular really sells a tone of desperation as he desperately searches for his partner.

Overall

Mass Effect Infiltrator is a good game. It has flaws with its controls when roaming about, but when you’re fluidly moving through cover, mowing down approaching enemies, it gives you a rush on par with some of the better shooters out there. You could take the Mass Effect moniker away from the story and probably not tell the difference, but the bonuses to Shepard’s campaign are substantial enough that you’ll feel like you’re helping your overall war effort even when you’re stuck on the daily commute.

It may not be the most fitting companion title to BioWare’s epic finale of the Mass Effect trilogy, but it is a solid game, and worth your time if you just can’t get enough of Mass Effect or third-person shooters.

Ciel no Surge gets its first trailer with Ar Tonelico director interview

Travis Bruno

March 10, 2012

There is currently an amazing looking game being developed in Japan at the moment and the director of said game is the same man who handled the Ar Tonelico series, Akira Tsuchiya. Last night he was interviewed for the “Game Heaven” presentation for the PlayStation Vita and while this interview is entirely in Japanese with no subtitles, the latter half of the video contains some important footage.

That footage is the first trailer for Ciel no Surge, a game where players will interact with a girl named Ionasol who has lost her memory. Players will take care of her for three years and interact with her using the Vita touch screen. Apparently this is the first game in a series called Surge Concerto which will be available on multiple platforms. Currently the title has no release date in Japan, nor any announcement for a North American release. Whom do you believe would give Ciel no Surge the best treatment if it were to be localized for the West?

Blades of Time makes its way to stores today!

Travis Bruno

March 10, 2012

Konami’s non-sequel to X-Blades is making its way to store shelves today for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Developed by Gaijin Entertainment (same developers of X-Blades) the game follows the story of Ayumi (same character from X-Blades) as she hunts for treasure in the mysterious and dangerous Dragonland.

Blades of Time features an interesting game mechanic called “Time Rewind” that allows players to make clones of themselves to either help attack the enemy or solve puzzles. Wielding her dual katanas and multiple firearms, Ayumi will stop at nothing to find the treasure she seeks, even if it means facing down mysterious monsters never seen before.

Lollipop Chainsaw costume trailer shows off anime costumes and more

Travis Bruno

March 10, 2012

It was recently revealed in Dengeki PlayStation that the sparkle-full zombie killing game Lollipop Chainsaw would contain a number of costumes from various anime and manga that have been released in Japan. Those curious to see what those are can see the small list below.

Highschool of the Dead: Saeko Busujima and Rei Miyamoto
Deadman Wonderland: Shiro
Is This a Zombie?: Haruna
Manyu Hiken-cho: Manyu Chifusa

Now while names are great, seeing these outfits in action is even better. Today a new trailer was released showing Lollipop Chainsaw’s main character Juliet wearing each of these anime/manga outfits as well as a number of other outfits that are going to be available once the game is released, as well as how the PS3 and 360 versions of the game will feature different voice actors. Now there has been no word if all these costumes will be available when the game is released in North America but we can certainly keep our hopes up.

Bioshock Infinite introduces the Motorized Patriot

Jack Joly

March 10, 2012

In the first episode of a Heavy Hitter enemy-introduction video series, Irrational Games introduces you for the first time to one of the unique BioShock Infinite antagonists you’ll be facing in the city of Columbia: Motorized Patriot.

An odd name for an odd enemy, then. You’ll notice it’s a strange foe to be facing, but it wouldn’t be Bioshock without it, so allow Irrational Games’ creative director Ken Levine and art director Nate Wells to talk you through this most patriotic of adversaries.

Bioshock Infinite will come to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC on 19th October this year. For now, check out the video featurette below:

Is This a Zombie? of the Dead given air date and new footage in latest video

Travis Bruno

March 10, 2012

A new trailer for the upcoming sequel to Is This a Zombie? (Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?) has appeared on Kadokawa’s official website. The trailer for Is This a Zombie? of the Dead (Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? of the Dead) lasts nearly two minutes long and contains all new footage from the upcoming season, so those who are missing their dose of Haruna, Tomonori, Eu and Seraphim will be able to satisfy themselves for now.

Those eager to know roughly when the anime will begin airing will be happy to hear it will begin airing in Japan on April 4th. Currently there are no plans for this season to be streamed online, however it is worth noting that FUNimation has licensed the first season for home distrubition and Crunchyroll recently streamed the first season so it is highly likely this second season will make its way to Western shores.

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