MONSTARS Inc. is an all-new development team based in Tokyo. Members of the team have worked on Lumines, REZ and Child of Eden. Now, they are branching out to other platoforms.
Kotomon is a “new hybrid action-shooter unlike anything you’ve ever seen!”
Featuring dancing, monsters, shooting and and action, you will utilize simple touch controls to control Kotomon as he catches “friendly monsters (each with their own unique abilities), and tap the screen to ‘shoot’ these new allies at enemy monsters.”
Some “allies rocket around the screen like a pinball, while others breathe fire or detonate on impact. Every move adds a beat to the background music, allowing you to influence the soundtrack as you play. Create Ultra, Extreme, and Dynamite combos to elevate your high score!”
KOTOMON will be launching at a special introductory price of $2.99 in U.S. and Canada, £1.99 in U.K. and 2.39€ in Europe until May 31st. After that, it will cost you $3.99 in U.S. and Canada, £2.49 in U.K. and 2.99€ in Europe.
Developer: Gameloft Publisher: Gameloft Platforms: iPad (Reviewed), iPhone, iPod Touch Release Date: May 10th, 2012 Price: $6.99 USD/ $7.49 AU Get It Here
Overview
It is a banner year for third games in a series. This year we have Max Payne 3, Mass Effect 3, and now, N.O.V.A. 3. Gameloft is attempting to show that a blockbuster FPS can exist on the iOS platform with the Modern Combat and N.O.V.A. series. Clocking in at a hefty 1.57 GB, can N.O.V.A. 3 prove it has what it takes to exist besides the likes of Halo, Call of Duty, and Battlefield?
Story
Kal Wardin returns to Earth to assist N.O.V.A. in recovering an ancient Judger artifact N.O.V.A. stole from the Judgers. Upon recovering the artifact, a humanoid alien Prometheus informs Kal that humanity and their arch nemesis the Volterites are not yet ready to wield the power contained the artifact and humanity should not have stolen it in the first place. As punishment for human kind’s transgressions, Kal must now go rescue two other Judger artifacts that have gone missing before the Volterites capture the artifacts and create a weapon of mass destruction.
N.O.V.A. 3 manages to create an interesting story with witty writing. There are a few genuine laugh out loud moments. Thanks to the fact the game is fully voice acted, the witty writing really shines. The characters all have distinct personalities that are believable and entertaining. The only weakness to N.O.V.A. 3’s storyline is the fact it is assumed you have played previous N.O.V.A. games. Although a very short synopsis is given during full blown loading screens, as a person who has not played the previous games, I felt a little lost at certain points in the story. A short cut scene summing up the previous two games would have been a great help to newbies to the series.
Gameplay
N.O.V.A. 3 is a first person shooter with both single player and multiplayer components. The single player is a several hours long epic that will keep players occupied for a long time. The level design is excellent, smartly mixing run and gun sequences with the traditional sniper levels, jumping puzzles, vehicle combat, and other FPS mainstays. There are some truly epic moments with vehicular combat in N.O.V.A. 3. Although hardware constraints limit the possibilities of Call of Duty Modern Warfare styled large scale combat moments, Gameloft is able to recreate the heart racing actions with high speed vehicle chases.
Multiplayer contains six maps and six modes. Play is available over local Wi-Fi and through Gameloft Live’s online services. A maximum of 12 players per battle is supported over Free-For-All, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Freeze Tag, Instagib, and Capture the Point game play modes. I found minimal lag with gameplay reminding me strongly of Halo’s multiplayer. Coins are rewarded after each multiplayer battle that can purchase weapons, perks, and weapon attachments. Although weapons can be picked up on the map at pre-determined locations, purchasing these weapons allows players to spawn in with weapons other than the default assault rifle. Level designs are well done, with plenty of room for battles with lots of cover. I noticed Heart of the Machine has become the fast favourite thanks to its close quarters battles, with lots of vertical areas to fire down upon the enemy. Overall I found N.O.V.A. 3’s multiplayer to be a frantic and fun affair that runs smoothly with minimal lag, an impressive feat on the iOS platform.
N.O.V.A. 3 controls are solid with a well-balanced aim assist. There are multiple control schemes to choose from, including twin stick based, screen area based, and gyroscope based. Short of a physical controller, there is literally something for everyone’s personal taste. I found button positioning on the UI was well placed, though I wish there was an edit mode allowing players to shift buttons exactly where they found them to be comfortable. Touch screens are not the best platform for FPS games due to the busy nature of FPS controls. Two thumbs really are not really enough to manage all the actions that are needed and the gyroscope can be tiring with a bulkier device like the iPad. Although N.O.V.A. 3 did not make me believe that I can dump my mouse and keyboard combo for a touch screen and never look back, N.O.V.A. 3 performed spectacularly within its limitations.
And now the ugly, on the new iPad N.O.V.A. 3’s single player is agonizingly glitchy on the new iPad. I encountered one full game breaking glitch that made it impossible to continue playing the game half way through, one near game breaking glitch that required a full level restart to fix, and several more minor glitches that required restarting from a previous checkpoint to fix. Glitches included falling through the map, being trapped behind rocks and unable to proceed, enemies not spawning correctly, objectives not correctly being completed, and randomly dying. The random deaths I suspect are related to being stuck in the environment leading to what feels like a random death. Elevators were the cause of many of the glitches to the point getting from point A to point B riding an elevator without dying became a small mini boss in itself. The first level was flawless, but as the game progressed, the game became glitchier and glitchier until I was locked in a room with two locked doors, unable to proceed any further in the game. Doing a little research showed that most players are not suffering from the same level of glitches as I am. I suspect these problems may be related to the new iPad and the fact it was only recently released to the public. However this is purely speculation, your mileage may vary when it comes to other iOS devices. If it was not for the fact this game is so painfully riddled with bugs, N.O.V.A. 3 could have been the best implementation of a shooter on iOS yet. Unfortunately, the game is brought to its knees with the crippling level of glitches.
Visuals
N.O.V.A. 3 is jaw dropping. It looks fantastic. On the iPad’s Retina screen, the game could easily pass for an Xbox 360 game. Models, animations, and skins could all find themselves at home on a home console or PC platform. The level of detail in N.O.V.A. 3 is simply impressive. It could easily stand beside Infinity Blade 2.
Although the game ran smoothly with no noticeable dips in FPmies that are visually different to keep players on their toes. Weapon design is in the same vein as the Halo series, clearly inspired by modern day weaponry then given the futuristic twist. N.O.V.A. 3 manages to meet all expectations and then some in the graphics department. Gameloft makes great use of the new iPad’s Retina screen to provide some jaw dropping visuals that will impress even the most jaded mobile gamer.
Audio
N.O.V.A. 3 continues to impress with in the audio department too. The game is fully voice acted. Surprisingly, the voice acting is great. The weakest link in voice acting is Kal Wardin’s voice acting. It was a bit of an unpleasant shock to find the main character was acted so weakly in comparison to the rest of the cast. At times, Wardin was able to hit the stride and became a believable character, other times, the acting fell completely flat. Unfortunately those moments really ruined the conversation with the other characters in the game.
The sound effects and music department also provides a strong showing. The game provides enough music at the right times to help build mood without becoming intrusive or distracting. Sound effects for guns and alien enemies are spot on. I strongly recommend playing N.O.V.A. 3 with a good pair of headphones. Although the crappy Apple ear buds is better than the puny speakers, the cracks, thumps, and fwoooshes of the weapons are best heard through a decent pair of cans that can pump out respectable bass. N.O.V.A. provides a strong audio presentation with a fully voice acted game. Although the main characters voice acting can be hit or miss, voice acting, music, and sound effects are all worthy of an AAA console or PC title.
Overall
N.O.V.A. 3 came so close to being a perfect game. The audio is top notch, the graphics are simply stunning, and the game is the best implementation of the FPS genre on iOS yet. Unfortunately, this is all ruined by the litany of glitches and bugs that exist. After several hours of playing the game, I found myself so frustrated by the quantity and severity of the bugs that it took a good bit self-restraint not to throw my iPad with frustration. If Gameloft can patch N.O.V.A. 3, then it will earn its rightful spot as the must have game for every iOS gamer. But until that patch is released, I cannot recommend paying $6.99 for something so frustratingly buggy.
Whenever a gamer goes to their favorite video game retailer to put some money down on a pre-order for an upcoming game they usually do so because there is some sort of bonus involved. Unfortunately nearly all of these pre-order bonuses are something simple such as an extra weapon that is barely stronger than your starting weapon, an extra character skin or if you are very lucky, perhaps something material such as a poster or a t-shirt.
However Square Enix and IO Interactive are taking a different approach when it comes to rewarding fans who pre-order their game. Rather than offer a simple weapon code or special in-game item they have chosen to give anyone who pre-orders Hitman: Absolution a code that will allow them to play the stand-alone experience that is the Hitman: Sniper Challenge. So what can fans of the Hitman series expect when they go to the store and pre-order the game?
Agent 47 has been tasked with taking out a target who is attending a lavish party on the top of a Chicago skyscraper. Players are given a brief mission description from Agent 47’s handler, Diana Burnwood. Your target is the head of a major arms manufacturer and your client also wants as many of his bodyguards killed as possible. Rather than sneaking through the party however, players are stationed on a rooftop nearby and must use their special sniper rifle (which is then unlocked for use in the main game) to take them out.
Simply taking out your main target as soon as he appears and allowing all of his guards to escape is a perfectly fine way to complete the sniper challenge, but where is the fun in that? Also choosing this method may also reward you with a much lower score than you would receive if you choose to bide your time and pick your targets better. The whole goal of Hitman: Sniper Challenge is to get the highest score possible and there are a number of factors which play into your score.
As you assassinate guards and the main target you accumulate points depending on how you killed them. For example, a headshot on a moving target will reward more points than a body shot on an idle target. Choosing your timing is also essential to achieve the maximum score, as players are also rewarded for “hidden bodies” where players can snipe targets so that they fall off the side of the building or sink into a fountain. If players can manage to keep their kills undetected they can even receive the special Silent Assassin rating which will boost their score immensely. Also added to your score is how long it took you to finish your mission, the amount of bullets you have left and also whether or not you killed any civilians.
Boosting your score can be done in a number of other ways as well. Besides taking out your target there are a number of other challenges that are littered throughout the stage. Once the player finishes any challenge they will unlock a permanent score multiplier which is essential for reaching the pinnacle of the leaderboards. These challenges can be anything from killing an enemy a special way, such as shooting a guard into an open elevator shaft (which you had to open by the way), finding a bonus target elsewhere on the map or even shooting various “collectibles” sprinkled across the rooftops.
As you raise your total score you will also unlock a number of rewards which carry over to the main game such as controlled breathing, faster reload, more bullets in your clip or faster shooting. All of these bonuses also help you take out your targets more efficiently as well. As players replay the stage multiple times they will likely find themselves very satisfied with the sniping mechanics, as they learn to lead moving targets and gently squeeze the trigger to slow time down (when controlled breathing is unlocked) to line up a perfect headshot.
The Hitman: Sniper Challenge is a unique pre-order offering in a world where pre-order bonuses have become mundane. Not only does it offer a small slice of gameplay from a game which still isn’t set to be released for over four months but it also offers players a chance to compete with their friends to see who the best sniper assassin among them is. With a number of bonuses which carry over to the main game and a chance to step into the shoes of Agent 47 months early, fans of the series can find no better reason to pre-order the game than the Hitman: Sniper Challenge.
Nothing says Mother’s Day like throwing children around a forest, so in honor of the holiday developer Kyle Pulver released his game, Offspring Fling, onto Steam this weekend. Not only that, but it also includes a level editor and is discounted at 20% for both PC and Mac for its Steam release.
Offspring Fling is a retro 16-bit style game that features more than 100 levels of play, where a mother forest creature goes in search of her lost kids, then throws them around to solve puzzles and save even more. Players can even try and improve their level playing through ghost replays, that show the best path so far, to which players can try and do even better. Secrets and unlockables abound too, so there’s plenty of bang for the bucks. Players can check it out the video for its release below and the game on Steam HERE.
While we all know that Luigi’s Mansion 2 is set to be released for the Nintendo 3DS sometime later this year. Online retailer Play.com has listed Luigi’s Mansion 2 for Nintendo’s upcoming Wii U console.
At this stage nothing has been confirmed by Nintendo, and this all could just be a simple ‘human error’. Though this isn’t the first time a retailer has leaked game announcements earlier than scheduled *cough cough* Target and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.
Yet with no official word from Nintendo, Luigi’s Mansion 2 on Wii U may seem like quite a stretch. The original Luigi’s Mansion appeared as a launch title for the GameCube a decade ago in 2001. Its sequel Luigi’s Mansion 2 was announced last year at E3 exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS.
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has revealed a teaser showcasing real life experiments based on the spells featured in Sorcery, the latest Playstation Move game. BBC science expert, Steve Mould, will demonstrate these experiments in a series of educational videos, entitled ‘The Science Behind The Magic’. There has been no indication when these educational videos will be released, but it would be between now and the release of the game on May 24. Experiments will include levitation and lightning, both spells used in the game.
Sorcery follows Finn, an apprentice to a powerful sorcerer named Dash. Taunted by the talking feline, Erline, he leaves the confines of his master’s home and travels to the Land of the Restless Dead. While there, he accidentally releases the Nightmare Queen from a spherical prison. She takes over the land and it is up to Finn to defeat her, using the Slumbering Key to aid him.
Details are now starting to pour in for a title I have been eyeing for some time now, which is none other than Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland 3D. Siliconera are now reporting that the game will feature an online store, much like that of Sentinel’s of the Starry Skies. Of course there will be rare items within, but eggs will be the prime reason to keep checking back in, and they also will have a hefty asking price.
It’s quite nice to see how much attention this DQM will have in store, and there is sure to be a lot of depth and replayability with this egg system in place as not only can players grind for levels, but also for a good amount of loot. Now if we can just get a proper western release date. Soon, my slimes, soon.
Rockstar’s latest game isn’t even out yet, but that hasn’t stopped Major League Gaming kicking off a Pro Exhibition with the Max Payne 3 Multiplayer at it’s heart. 16 of the ‘world’s best’ competitive gamers were slung into 4×4 teams to duke it out for $30,000, and you can catch a glimpse of the bullet ridden matches in the video below.
Sure there’s a lot of weirdly named guys bragging about how good they are, but it’s also a decent look at the game’s multiplayer mode in full flow. With the game due for general release tomorrow, expectations are certainly soaring, so any hint at what Rockstar has to offer is something to lap up in the meantime.
The full contest will be broadcast just a few hours before some of the midnight game launches, starting at 8pm Eastern time today. You can catch the show on Rockstar’s Newswire or on the Major League Gaming website.
Sleeping Dogs is the freshly renamed continuation of the True Crime series, coming from Square Enix London and United Front Games. It’s an open world cop drama set in Hong Kong, and as such is a dead ringer for some martial arts action. Indeed it’s definitely going for the Hong Kong cinema vibe, with players taking on the role of an undercover cop who must take on the more vicious members of the Triad underworld.
So there will be combos and kicks aplenty, as well as shoot outs and street races to mix up the action. A new trailer, or ‘gameplay highlight’ has just been released to show off the games combat, and is packed full of snapping bones, roundhouses and some extraordinarily violent takedowns: say hello meathook!
Make sure and check it out below. Sleeping dogs will be coming to PS3, Xbox 360 and PC in August of this year.
Mass Effect 3 is the latest installment in the main Mass Effect trilogy of games. It follows the final journey of Commander Shepard across the galaxy in a battle against a bio-mechanical race known as the Reapers. In this battle, players are needed to be at their very best and can not be limited by their own equipment. So Razer have come in as assistance to the players needs by creating a product line built to enhance the Mass Effect experience and to ensure that players are at the very best that they can be.
Keyboards have been in use for the longest of periods as the primary input mechanism for computational devices in use by the average user, so it is only natural that the average user should want the best input device for their purposes. The Razer ME3 Blackwidow Ultimate Keyboard is designed for users whose primary motivation for owning a superior PC is for gaming purposes. This is to say that the people who will be most interested in this keyboard will be people who play video games on their Personal Computers. The gamer who is likely to get the most out of owning this particular edition of the Blackwidow Ultimate keyboard is the gamer that is the biggest fan of the Mass Effect series and also takes other games pretty seriously.
The Razer ME3 Blackwidow Ultimate Keyboard is ultimately a mechanical keyboard at heart, with several additions that make it incredibly appealing to the modern gamer. The first of these additions I want to talk about is the back lighting. The keyboard comes equipped with several back lighting features and options that are easily switched between from the keyboard itself. There are five back light modes for users to switch between, which are – no light, low light, medium light, high light and pulsating light. You can change between these modes by hitting the ‘Fn’ key and the sunny symbol (F12) at any time. What I found particularly awesome about the back lighting was that it comes from LEDs inside of each key, which makes each letter stand out in a bright red colour, reminiscent of the Mass Effect games.
My favourite lighting mode is the high light mode, the low light just seems way too dull and the pulsating makes it hard to type in the dark. I suppose that opinions will be different to my own, and that users should definitely fiddle with their keyboards and find the mode that suits them the best. And really, that’s what makes this keyboard awesome, it gives you the option to choose how you want to have it appear. It’s far better than forcing you to have just one option, even if it’s ugly as crap.
The second part of the keyboard I would like to mention is the Macro functionality of the keyboard. Lined along the left-hand side of the keyboard are 5 macro keys, each one labelled from ‘M1’ to ‘M5’ in a descending order from the top, or an ascending order from the bottom. Recording macros is an easy enough function, you simply hit the ‘fn’ key along side the ‘m’ (alt) key and then record your macro. Pressing the same combination will stop recording and you then assign the macro to a key of your choosing. You can do this to any key on the keyboard, but I’d seriously not recommend doing this as it can become problematic. Assign the macros to the macro buttons.
The function key is probably the most important key on the keyboard. It is this key that allows you to access all of the alternate functions of the keyboard. I’ve already spoken about the lighting and the macros, but I have yet to touch upon the rest of the functions accessible by holding this key. The next function I want to talk about are the sound options. The F1-F3 keys control the volume of the computer whilst the ‘fn’ key is depressed. Pressing F1 will mute all sound from your PC, while F2 and F3 will decrease and increase your volume levels with each respective key. I found these to be particularly handy while playing some games and watching movies. I don’t why, but the gaming industry is moving towards a more cinematic sound experience, rather than a logical one, so a lot of games have incredibly soft audio levels so that you have to turn your sound levels even higher just to be able to hear anything. Skyrim is one of the biggest examples of this.
The keyboard also has media functionality so that you are able to quickly access your multimedia programs while you are gaming. You have four options at your disposal, each one assigned to the F5-F8 keys, and they are: Play/Pause, Stop, Skip-Backwards and Skip-Forwards. I quite liked having this option as I like to play games while listening to my own music, rather than the games audio, so being able to manage these things without alt-tabbing is a great addition. However I did find a problem where sometimes programs like Windows Media Player decide to freeze when skipping songs, however this is rare and is probably a problem with the way WMP handles media functions.
One of the most useful functions of this keyboard is the ability to switch off the Windows Key functionality. How many times have you been in a moment where it was critical that you do something at just the right moment in order to brush your way to victory and then slap your mates in the face with your superior gaming skills, only to have accidentally hit the Windows Key on your way to the right key, or with your palm, thus destroying your victory and making you look like a massive n00b in front of everyone? Now you have no reason to fear such an occurrence for with the ‘fn’ key and the F11 button you enter the keyboard into gaming mode, a mode that is surely to be useful under many a circumstance. What is also useful is that whenever you want the Windows key to be useable again, you can just use the same combination to switch the Keyboard back to normal.
Keyboards are personal to the person using them and, well, what makes this Razer Mass Effect 3 Blackwidow Ultimate Keyboard stand-out and become something that people would want to be personal to them? To be honest, sure it might be all the features that I have listed already, but I think it’s got more to do with the little quirks of a device that are something that make it stand above devices with a similar offering. For me, the main selling point of this keyboard was the way that it gives a satisfying click every time you hit a key, so that you definitely feel as though you’re typing and doing something great with the keyboard. Having that feedback, for me, made the experience with this keyboard absolutely amazing. I mean sure, a lot of keyboards click when typing, but coming from a keyboard without that satisfying click, it feels like something awesome has typed its way back into my life.
Each key on the keyboard has a kind of finish that makes each key feel much different to any other keyboard on the market. They are quite comfortable to hit with your fingers as you type and aren’t prone to stainage, which is a pretty good thing, considering some keyboards can look pretty grimy after a few days of use. Even more awesome is that the lettering doesn’t rub off the keyboard as you use it, this is primarily because the lettering is LED back lighted and therefore much more resilient to that kind of abuse.
The most Mass Effect part of this keyboard, isn’t so much that it has much Mass, and Effects, but that it is Mass Effect themed. Adorning the bottom left corner of the Keyboard is the N7 logo, which is now synonymous with the Mass Effect brand and flying down across the Macro keys is the Mass Effect white and red strips that are also recognisable within the Mass Effect brand. What will make this package even more enticing is the limited edition code that unlocks new weapons and features in the Multiplayer portion of the Mass Effect 3 game. Mass Effect fans will love this.
Now the part you’ve all been waiting for, how it performs while gaming. I’m not going to exaggerate and say that my gaming skills increased by godly amounts while gaming, but the keyboards higher reaction times and LED lighting made it much easier to play games that it was previously. I noticed a slight increase in my movement (not movement speed) which made dodging incoming projectiles that much easier and responsive.
I would heavily advise any gamer that does not yet have a decent gaming keyboard to purchase this keyboard immediately, or at least, as soon as possible. This is only because unlike Mass Effect 3’s ending, this keyboard is actually good.
Even Commander Shephard agrees –
“I’m Commander Shephard and this is my favourite keyboard on the Citadel.” Commander Shephard told gaming reporters in a made up interview for the Razer Mass Effect 3 BlackWidow Ultimate Keyboard.
