Razer have teamed up with Team Liquid, a group of pro-gamers in StarCraft II. They have teamed up with this clan to create the Team Liquid Goliathus mousepad, which is to offer a smoother padding for enhanced efficiency in the arena.
As someone who uses a Goliathus myself, I can attest to their proficiency as a mousepad. The mousepads also look to be able to be emblazoned with the colours and logos of other gaming teams, meaning that you could be playing with your favourite teams mousepad of choice today.
Tonight, Sony Japan released nine videos, which turned out to be the Playstation Vita Game Heaven broadcast. So, it was not in the style of Nintendo Direct, but it still involved game announcements from Japanese developers. In this article, which goes hand in hand with this article, are all of the nine videos that were part of Game Heaven. Let’s have a look at each of them:
This is truly a racing fans dream, as Codemasters have launched the gameplay video for Dirt 3 The Complete Edition, a compendium box set to Dirt 3, which I reviewed and believe to be the best racing game of last year by a country mile. Included in the Complete Edition is $35 worth over extra DLC, available come March 15th for both Australian and New Zealand revheads and comes with a very respectable $49.95 price tag to boot. The new trailer highlights much of the new content including Mini Cooper Rallies across Monte Carlo and multi car rallycross racing through the tight streets of Tokyo.
Dirt 3 was an awesome driving experience whose success lay somewhat with the sheer variation in tracks and environments on offer to experience. The additional content that has been added includes 2 new track packs plus 5 car packs featuring a variety of different vehicles to add to your garage. The new tracks include 8 new tsgaes across Monte Carlo through the Snowy mountains as well as 4 new routes set across 2 new Shibuya tracks. The new car packs include the Power and Glory pack and the Mud and Guts pack including the BMW M3 and Citroen C4 Rallycross amongst many others. The other car packs include the Ford Escort MK II in both its standard and upgraded form and the Mini Cooper S Gymkhana.
Dirt 3 Complete Edition will be available for PS3 and XBox 360 platforms
Rayman Origins Developer: Ubisoft Publisher: Ubisoft Platform: Playstation Vita Also Available On: PS3, Xbox 360, PC, 3DS Release Date: 22/02/2012 Price: $35.40 (Available Here)
Overview
Rayman Origins sees the return to Rayman’s 2D platforming roots in style. It was first released for the consoles back in November 2011 with further releases on the Nintendo 3DS and PC in the near future. Now Rayman makes the jump to the portable scene with a release on the launch day of the Playstation Vita. The jump to the portable scene is a highly successful one. The game retains the thrilling platforming gameplay, the quirky and unique visuals, but the co-op component fails to make the leap. Despite the lack of multiplayer, Rayman Origins is an excellent addition to the Playstation Vita library.
Story
The Glade of Dreams is the scene of a terrible event. While relaxing in the Snoring Tree, an old female zombie, disturbed by the snoring of Rayman, Globox and the Teensies, decides to unleash an army of dark creatures and the head of her husband. These dark creatures decide to imprison all of the Electoons throughout the Glade of Dreams, as well as imprisoning the Nymphs. Considering this is his last straw, Rayman and co. decide to rescue the Electoons and the Nymphs so that peace is restored and he can go back to the land of slumber.
This is a game where the story is not that important, but also requires some sort of story to establish motivation for the characters to spring into action. One can not simply go and tame creatures without establishing why they are dark creatures in the first place. Don’t expect any character development or any complexity within the story, but then again, if you are playing for a story, you have chosen the wrong game.
Gameplay
If you have played the console version of Rayman Origins, then don’t expect any difference in terms of gameplay. You have the choice of four characters: Rayman, Globox or one of two Teensies, small beings proficient in the use of magic. Players will need to free the Electoons after their imprisonment by a dark force. In order to progress through the levels, players will have to break a cage full of Electoons at the end of the level. However, each level will include another two cages of Electoons for the player to free. In addition to the Electoons, players also collect Lums, which are the coins of the game. Lum Kings double the value of the Lums for a short time, while Skull Coins add 25 Lums, if you find them. They awake with a red colour, dancing and having a good time. Collect enough Lums and the player will earn more Electoons at the end of the level.
There are over five worlds in the Glade of Dreams Rayman and co. need to explore in order to reach the being responsible for the dark creatures. They usually consist of four to five levels, with an additional level for a chance to grab a ruby tooth. After collecting enough Electoons, the nymph responsible for the well being of the area will open up the path to a new area. Before it is truly open, the player must hop on board a giant mosquito and fly across the skies to reach the new area. These flying sections do include bosses but they can be easy if you figure out their attack pattern.
The player will notice, after they start up the game, that the characters lack a few abilities. These abilities are unlocked after freeing a Nymph during the first level of each world. The abilities include attacking, gliding, shrinking in order to fit into smaller gaps, diving to explore the deep oceans and running up walls. Each ability is useful and adds another level of gameplay when you track back to get those Trophies and 100% completion rate. The touch screen makes a small cameo. You can touch any Lum or heart (which acts as a shield to damage) that is floating in a bubble, usually found after shuffling through some flora or jumping on a platform. Enemies will also turn into bubbles, allowing you to pop them with the touch of your finger. You can also pinch in and out to inspect the beautiful visuals. Just check for enemies.
It’s been a good many months since the excellent Trine 2 was released, but only now are European gamers been able to get their hands on the PSN version. The puzzle platformer received strong reviews upon it’s release, and as an apology for the delay developers Frozenbyte and console publishers Atlus have discounted the game by a third.
PSN Plus users will also be able to grab the game for absolutely nothing, as Trine 2 is officially the game of the month for March. If you’re looking for a bit of smart and beautiful platforming you could do far worse than pick this one up – so make sure and click here for the full Capsule Computers review of the PC version of the game.
And that’s still not quite the end for Trine 2, with Frozenbyte promising yet more news on the title in the near future, plus a release to Linux and OnLive systems.
Namco Bandai Games of Europe have released yet another Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations character trailer. This time the character trailer focuses on the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara of the Sand.
Gaara will be playable in both his Part 1 and Part 2 forms (pre and post becoming Kazekage) and is just one of the many characters on the impressive character roster for Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations.
You can check out the character trailer of Gaara below. Be sure to let us know what you think in the shoutbox and comments section. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations hits shelves on March 29th for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
One Piece: Pirate Warriors recently hit shelves across Japan and has since sold out nearly nation-wide and broken sales records. Since it’s release the game has sold over 650,000 copies, selling a record 92% of it’s large scale release, leaving the game in short supply nationwide.
These sales make One Piece: Pirate Warriors the best selling One Piece game of all time and not only that but the best Dynasty Warriors game of all time. The game also did well in it’s Playstation 3 bundle packs selling a respectable 24,000 copies.
One Piece: Pirate Warriors has been confirmed for European and North American release, but no release date has been confirmed. Eager One Piece fans could always import the game from Japan if they can’t wait, that is if their is any copies left.
Japanese mobile game developer, althi Inc, has announced that they have just released their iOS latest title, Survival Penguin on the iOS title and is available for purchase right now (9 March 2012) for $.0.99.
This unique action title will allow you to take control of a Penguin and other creatures, and take on enemies using a variety of weapons and such. The game has 3D graphics and uses an interesting isometric style of gameplay with several power ups and enemies occupying the screen. The game will feature over 96 unique levels, with each featuring a challenging design which further adds tension to the battle gameplay.
I Am Alive Developer: Ubisoft Shanghai Publisher: Ubisoft Platforms: XBLA (Reviewed), PSN (Coming Soon) Release Date: March 7, 2012 Price: 1200 MSP ($15) – Available Here
Overview: There are many games that are announced, teased, detailed and then released in a matter of months, however there are other titles which can go practically months without a single piece of information. Then there are the small few who are revealed, and then left to languish with people believing the game had been canceled a long time ago.
I Am Alive is a perfect example of the latter. I Am Alive was announced back in 2008, four years ago at the point of its release. After its announcement the development team was switched partway through the project, the game was reduced from a full retail title to a download only game and even the whole character and his backstory were changed. After all these adjustments is I Am Alive still breathing?
Story: Rather than have players deal with an apocalyptic environment as it occurs, I Am Alive drops players in the shoes of a nameless protagonist who has been walking across the United States in an effort to return to his family and his hometown. While this would normally be a simple, if not arduous undertaking, the world has undergone complete devastation. Something described simply as “The Event” has shattered the world at its very core, leaving cities in ruins and massive amounts of dust floating through the air.
With humanity pushed to the brink, only a few people remain alive in various cities, however most of these people are more than willing to kill you and take what you have with you in an effort to stay alive. However your drive to find your family pushes you onwards and stop at nothing to find them… or at least you would think so.
The whole story is told through the man’s camcorder as he documents his journey so that if he were to die, someone would know his story. However his story quickly changes from one of trying to find your family and survive quickly loses focus and makes you wonder why the world this man walked across the entire country only to be sidetracked at the drop of the hat. It completely shatters his conviction and fails to deliver on what could have been an intriguing storyline.
Audio & Visuals: While the game features music normally only to heighten the tension and little else, it is extremely atmospheric as you hear the world around you crumble slowly, or the wind blowing through the devastated structures around you. The game’s voice acting is unfortunately hit and miss, with a number of characters sounding adequate enough with others sounding practically unbelievable.
If there is one thing you have to give I Am Alive credit for, is the amazingly designed post-apocalyptic world. You will be hard pressed to find any game that offers the same quality of destruction that is witnessed in I Am Alive. Climbing up a building and taking a look around you at the devastation that was delivered to the world by “The Event” is one of the game’s highest moments.
The game also sticks true to its story by delivering us very little color as nearly everything feels like a different shade of gray or brown as the world is covered in dust, though this does make everything feel a bit bland after a few hours of playtime. There are also occasional clipping issues with enemies which can be problematic.
Gameplay: The basic premise of I Am Alive is to survive and to do so you must carefully pay attention to your health bar, but most importantly to your stamina meter. While your health bar is self-explanatory, nearly every action you take will drain your stamina in one way or another. Running fast may not be too much of a concern; however things such as climbing building or running through un-breathable air full of dust heighten the tension greatly, for if your stamina runs out while climbing a building you can fall to your death while the dust storm can choke you to death.
There are a number of ways to replenish your health and stamina; however these ways are all scattered throughout the level and provide a limited number of resources. Players can be greatly rewarded for going out of their way to look everywhere for any possible supplies as it could easily mean life or death as you scale a large building or navigate large clouds of dust.
An integral part to I Am Alive is that you will have to climb nearly everywhere. Considering the large amount of earthquakes which occurred during “The Event,” nearly every building has suffered some form of damage, ranging from a few pieces of a wall falling off, entire floors collapsing leaving only a skeleton of a building to entire skyscrapers falling over. Players will climb around the city to reach their various objectives through the use of this easy to use climbing system, occasionally using supplies to stay alive and keep their grip on a precarious ledge or potentially fall to your doom.
While the key element to I Am Alive is for you to survive, there are a number of survivors you will run across that will need your help. This presents a moral dilemma… will you save these poor survivors at the cost of some of your resources? Or do you leave them to die in an effort to stay alive yourself? While helping most survivors doesn’t provide much reward outside of an extra Retry and a bit of story, players will find it hard to ignore these characters as their cries for help are hard to ignore.
However not everyone needs your help, in fact the only way you can help them is to go ahead and die so they can take your things. Another intriguing part of I Am Alive is the way the game handles confrontations with hostile survivors. While food and healing items is scarce, ammo and weaponry is even scarcer. There are many times you will be forced to face off against three or even four men at a time all willing to kill you, but you only have one bullet in your gun.
This creates an amazing experience as you must pay attention to how each and every enemy group reacts. Do any of them have a gun? Do some of them seem scared? All of this can contribute to your survival. The first time you surprise a man with your machete and kill him, shoot another survivor, bluff and knock out the third guy with your empty gun and then kick the last man off a ledge will leave you with a huge rush of accomplishment for surviving such a daunting confrontation.
If you find yourself losing one of these confrontations you will be able to use a retry to start extremely close to that section. These retries are limited however, as you are only given so many before having to restart an entire chapter over. Retries are relatively easy to collect and can be found lying around various areas, so while the game is difficult at times; it can be easy to accrue a large amount of retries.
Overall:
The survival genre has very few entries and I Am Alive does a decent job of reminding people that the game is still alive and kicking. With rather interesting takes on combat and the need to conserve resources to not die the game provides a number of interesting challenges, however falls short when it comes to delivering a satisfying experience that has only a few high moments scattered throughout a myriad of lows.
It was recently announced that the infamous Saint Seiya anime would be making it’s triumphant return with it’s Spring 2012 sequel called Saint Seiya Omega. Today, new details on the upcoming anime series have been revealed, in particular the series’ cast. The cast is as follows:
Seiya played by Tohru Furuya (Casshern in Casshern Sins)
Koga played by Hikaru Midorikawa (Dio Brando in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure)
Yuna played by Satsuki Yukino (Kaname Chidori in Full Metal Panic!)
Soma played by Katsuyuki Konishi (Tatsumi Oga in Beelzebub)
Ryuho played by Tetsuya Kakihara (Natsu Dragneel in Fairy Tail)
Eden played by Junichi Suwabe (Grimmjow in Bleach)
Haruto played by Tatsuhisa Suzuki (Yuji Sakamoto in Baka and Test)
It’s undoubtedly a star-studded cast for what is easily one of the most hotly anticipated anime of the Spring 2012 anime season. The series is set to focus on the next generation of Saints in the Saint Seiya universe. It is set to premiere on the 1st of April, 2012.
