Time of Heroes, the work on Indie developer, smuttlewerk interactive, is a 3D turn-based strategy game with strong roleplaying focus. Why not reminisce on good old turn-based games with this new app? With a modern combat system, easy accessibility and modern graphics, this is a new upgrade to a classic, well-loved formula.
Time of Heroes is set in Atland, a harsh and unforgiving land where humans have set to colonise after their old home was frozen. However, Atland is a tough new home, especially due to the inhabitants adoring the taste of human flesh. Not only do they love eating humans, but Atland has also been the scene of a war that has been going on for thousands of years, so the humans have to find their rare allies to try and overcome the minions of the dark God Detexx.
Time of Heroes has six playable heroes, six playable units, and more than 25 different enemies, as well as plenty of skill-trees and items. With three different difficulty settings and three different Unit Numbers difficulty levels, the game is suitable for a large range of different players, and will be sure to keep you enthralled for a very long time.
The first chapter of Time of Heroes – The Arrival is currently available, with the second chapter in development.
Time of Heroes is available NOW for iPhone and iPad for $0.99 for a limited time (usual price $2.99) – Get it HERE
As if there already wasn’t enough to do in Saints Row: The Third, an exciting DLC mission pack titled GenkiBowl VII has just arrived, and it features several new missions such as Sexy Kitten Yarngasm, Sad Panda Skyblazing, Apocalypse Genki, and Super Ethical PR Opportunity. It also adds new costumes, traps and vehicles to further add to the carnage. All topped off with colour commentary and sports like presentation.
GenkiBowl VII is now available for purchase on Xbox Live (for 560 Microsoft Points), PlayStation Network (for AU$9.25 ) and Steam (for AU$6.99). The pack is free to players who have the Saints Row Season Pass.
On the night of the 19th of January (which happened to be last night), the Oxford Art Factory hosted a night where gamers could re-live the days of the arcade, as well as get their mittens on 2K Games’ next release, The Darkness II, which will be released on February 10 in Australia. It was a night of pure bliss, topped off by 80’s music, game art, alcoholic spiders (the drink, not drunk spiders themselves) and gourmet hotdogs, New York style. Capsule Computers editors Roger Ma and Matthew Vella were joining myself in a night were gaming (specifically The Darkness II) was the focus.
For the arcade lover, this was the night for you. Along the upper level, as well as the lower level, there were an abundance of arcade cabinet and arcade tables to fill your appetite. Of course, there were pinball machines as well. Five of them to be exact. On those arcade machines, some classics were to be found. Games like Street Fighter, Marvel Vs Capcom, Golden Axe and Metal Slug II were present. Even Space Invaders made an appearance. The problem was the fact that it became a crowded mess. The upper level was nothing more than a balcony, meaning space around the arcade cabinets was minimal, even non-existent. In fact, room to maneuver through was usually accompanied by shout of ‘excuse me’ since space was minimal.
Cabinets and pinball machines were not the only gaming devices around. On the lower level, sitting between the one of the bars and the gourmet hotdog stand, there were several arcade tables, littered neatly across the floor. Just like their cabinet counterparts, they offered classic arcade games, like Ms PacMan. Just like the balcony of cabinets, moving around was somewhat restricted, but more freely than the balcony.
However, the old met the new at Insert Coins as the main attraction was the single player demo of The Darkness II. Scores of gamers, both male and female, gathered to experience the re-emergence of The Darkness in the body of Jackie Estacado, the main protagonist. The new gameplay feature quad wielding, as well as the first couple of levels of the single player campaign, was the focus of the demo. The demo was exciting, interesting (story wise) and all around fun. Roger Ma took care of the hands-on impressions. For myself, I would recommend checking this game out, especially for the quad wielding.
For a couple of hours, right there on the stage, the artists went to work. As the focus for the event was The Darkness II, the works of art focused on the game. One artist worked on the faces of the creatures that spout out of Jackie’s shoulders, which is the Darkness, done with a black marker over a green outline. The other used water-based paint and re-created Jackie with one of the Darkness creatures coming out. Jackie also held a recently fired pistol, highlighting the combination of the gameplay elements. I was very impressed with the artworks. It felt like the Darkness.
If you are in Sydney, I will recommend going to Insert Coins, whether you love living in the past or looking forward to the future. Bring your mates along as well. Entry was cheap, only $10 per head, which also covers access to the games. Bring extra for drinks and food, though. Maybe you’ll also bump into your favourite Capsule Computers editor, get to know them… or not.
The worldwide phenomenon that is Rovio Entertainment’s Angry Birds is set to get a brand new update. Coinciding with Chinese New Year, the “Year of the Dragon” update is set to bring a theme to the game featuring traditional Chinese fireworks, lanterns, Chinese knots, red envelopes.
And of cause 15 brand new levels that players will no doubt be addicted to. The Mighty Eagle will also be getting a makeover, now know as the “Mighty Dragon”. Along with this latest update, Rovio will also release brand-new Year of the Dragon themed merchandise, animation and comic.
The update by the way is completely free. Anyone with Angry Birds Seasons on iPhone, iPad, Anroid and Symbian can go ahead and download it right now.
The second installment of the Max Payne 3 Design and Technology Video series has been released, focusing on targeting and weapons that you can use in the game. The video shows how Rockstar have tried to reimagine the gunplay mechanics of a third person action shooter, going above and beyond what’s available in the market at the moment.
With a precision targeting system that looks like it belongs to a first person game and lifelike weapon animation, Max Payne 3 has a fantastic sense of cinematic realism and immersion. After all, you can’t have such awesome storyline and graphics without hacing some great gameplay to back it up with.
The video also goes into the dual-wielding concept and how this affects gameplay, player’s abilities with dual-wielding, and how dual-wielding affects the animation.
Check out the video below! Max Payne 3 is due for release for PS3 and Xbox 360 on May 15, with the PC version coming out on May 29.
BulkyPix’s latest title, JAZZ: Trump’s Journey, is out now for iPad and iPhone. It follows Trump, a Jazz musician in his adventures chasing fame and building up his own band in an ambitious parallel with Louis Armstrong’s life.
From the looks of the trailer (below), this 2D platformer’s unique art stlye and great soundtrack is sure to make a game to remember!
Stay tuned for our review, coming soon! – Game is currenty available on iTunes for $2.99 (BUY HERE)
Earlier today, the company behind the online massively multiplayer role playing game (Warner Bros), Dungeons and Dragons Online, unveiled the first expansion to the now free-to-play game. The expansion to the game, titled Menace of the Underdark, is set to be released in the coming Fall of this year.
This latest expansion is set to increase the player level cap, as well as introducing a plethora of new content for the game, as well as releasing the much anticipated Druid Class for use within the game.
“2011 was a year of growth for Dungeons & Dragons Online as we celebrated our fifth anniversary and completed a successful launch of the game in Europe,” said Fernando Paiz, Executive Producer of Dungeons & Dragons Online. “2012 is going to be our biggest year yet with a wealth of new content throughout the year including the launch of our first expansion pack. We are very excited to expand into the Forgotten Realms setting with a whole new storyline, level cap increase and the new Druid class!”
Check out a more comprehensive list of new features quoted below.
NEW FEATURES:
Journey to the Forgotten Realms- Experience the classic fantasy and adventure of D&D’s most imaginative and renowned setting. Arrive in the village of Eveningstar and adventure through the surrounding King’s Forest wilderness area where the citizens of the nation of Cormyr must unite to face a new threat to the Realms.
Brave the caverns of the Underdark- Come face to face with the Underdark Drow and Lolth, their Queen and goddess, as you explore this vast and twisted, subterranean world. Infiltrate the Drow stronghold of Shindylryn – the city of portals – where Lolth’s forces work to further her schemes.
Attain Epic levels to 25! Forge your Epic Destiny and create a unique Epic hero with powerful character customisation options as you advance beyond level 20 to epic level 25.
Play the Druid Class- Play as the all new shape-shifting Druid class! Wield nature’s magic or transform into a powerful animal form with this classic D&D class.
Interested players should look into starting a new character on the game, by checking out the official site and downloading the client.
Synqua Games has released a new action game that answers the question, what would happen if Vikings and Pirates fought against each other? I mean, Pirates and Ninjas is old, but Vikings? Well, that’s definitely a showdown that would be loud, rowdy, and very axe-y.
In Save Your Booty you have to defend Captain Goodthrow’s booty against the evil conquering Vikings who think they can have a right to everything just because they have epic hairstyles. In this game you use your finger to draw a path on the screen on which to release a battle-axe to bring those damn landlubbers down! You also have barrels of beer and cannons at the ready to take them down, so get your fingers ready for some intense fighting!
Extra treasure can be collected by tapping on treasure chests when the Vikings aren’t looking, and guiding it inside your ship.
Save Your Booty has 48 levels, spread across 4 stages, and two modes ‘Save Yer Booty’, or ‘Do or Die’. One stage, which is twelve levels, is included in the initial download, with the following levels available for in-app purchase.
Save Your Booty is available NOW for iPhone and iTouch for FREE – Get it HERE
Who doesn’t love taking on the gangs of the seedy underworld? Whether it is as an undercover cop, or a gang member. And hey, 9MM is neither and both at the same time, with John ‘Loose’ Kannon who is a corrupt narcotics detective and who kills a drug lord’s brother and steals millions of dollars. Now here are a few questions from me, firstly, does anyone just call him ‘Loose’? Because personally, my feelings would be a little hurt if my nickname was loose. Secondly, why not kill the drug dealer? Surely he has more money, and that would be kind of helping out your buddies in blue. Third of all, has anyone counted how many times swearing occurs in this game? Because it’s actually pretty impressive how many swear words they manage to get into it. Fourth of all, this game resembles both GTA and Max Payne, so which side will it fall on?
Gameplay
My last question is the easiest to answer, which is unsurprising since it is the least sarcastic one. While it does ring reminiscent of GTA, it definitely follows Max Payne far more. Instead of having a sandbox that you can wander around in, you have to keep to a certain area and follow the line that the game likes you to follow. If you try to deviate from this set path a message will pop up on the screen, the game scolding you and shooing you back onto the path as if you’re some wayward Kindergartener.
While the app brags of destructible environments, most of them aren’t. Bottles, boxes and speakers are, but apart from that you won’t get the pleasure of wreaking destruction as much as you would in other games, which is a bit of a shame. It would have definitely added to my fun factor if I’d been able to smash a few more things while being all renegade badass.
There are a couple of quick-time events that will pop up, so make sure that you don’t tune out too much during the cutscenes, because you might end up missing something you need to do. Other than that the controls are fairly standard, and don’t cause too much trouble. Similar to Max Payne, you can enter slow-motion ‘bullet time’ to take out a group of gangsters, pinpointing each one and wiping them out as quickly as possible, which is invaluable in parts of the game. The slo-mo bar is charged by kills or simply letting time pass, so using it for one or two people is a bit of a waste.
There is in game cash with which you can buy armour, ammo, so on and so forth. You can either earn this with level completion, kills and achievements, or go for the in-app purchase option. However, you don’t really need to, unless you want all the best things absolutely right this second so that the game isn’t hard at all and you can own absolutely everyone with a glance. That’s up to personal preference I guess.
There are 12 levels in single player campaign, with about 3 gameplay hours in them, and once you’ve completed the campaign you can try harder difficulties or have a go at the multi-player.
Multi-player involves either death-match or team death-match modes, with up to 12 players either over Wi-Fi or online, or two players via Bluetooth. To play online you have to have a Gameloft Live account, which is free, and you play through the Gameloft servers. There is definitely lag in the multi-player mode, however, so if you are someone who can’t deal with jerkiness during gameplay then you should perhaps look elsewhere.
Visuals
The grittiness of the culture that 9mm is set in is reflected in the visuals. I mean, there are strippers guys.
When I started playing on an older laptop the graphics were completely unplayable, only some of the background would actually show, and nothing else, however this was my fault as the laptop had clearly just freaked out a bit over the graphics requirements. Or perhaps it was self-censoring. Either way, once I traded up it fixed itself up. Apart from some glitches, which drove me up the wall a bit (I have a low tolerance for glitches), the graphics were pretty good considering it is technically an app.
Audio
The soundtrack makes me feel like I’m stuck in a car with a bunch of guys who think that they’re super hardcore and ‘gangsta’. Which makes me feel a little awkward because I’m far from that and I opted to turn my volume down so that others didn’t think that this was the sort of music I listen to while I’m on my laptop.
The voiceovers are alright. They aren’t great, and at times they are quite heavily stereotypical, but that sort of lends itself a little to the game. Why play as a crook cop if you aren’t going to go all out stereotypical, with choice cheesy lines and accents and all.
Overall
If you’re a fan of Max Payne this is definitely a game to get. Sure, it’s the watered down, app version but that doesn’t take away from the entertainment or fun of the game itself. It certainly is enjoyable in single-player mode, and as long as your laptop can deal with it, it plays well.
Crazy Escape the fun, and crazy, app from BulkyPix and developed by KoolFing, has been given a brand new price of $0.00! That’s right, to celebrate their new update, Crazy Escape is FREE for a week.
In Crazy Escape you play as Cutlet and Mishmash (the oddest named penguins, apart from Mumble), heroic penguins who have decided to ditch their comfortable Artic environment and journey to the land of cowboys saving their sheep friends (having met at the cute animal mixer I guess?), from wolves, and turning the whole natural habitat thing on its head.
The update has 25 new levels, as well as Crazy Coins, which allows you to get new vehicles that you can use in all the levels of the game.
Check out the gameplay video for the update below!
Crazy Escape is available NOW for FREE (for a limited time) on iPhone, iTouch and iPad – Get it HERE
Time of Heroes, the work on Indie developer, smuttlewerk interactive, is a 3D turn-based strategy game with strong roleplaying focus. Why not reminisce on good old turn-based games with this new app? With a modern combat system, easy accessibility and modern graphics, this is a new upgrade to a classic, well-loved formula.
