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Soulcalibur V Review

February 1, 2012

Soulcalibur V
Developer: Project Soul
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Platforms: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PlayStation 3
Release Date: January 31, 2012
Price: $59.99 – Available Here

Overview:
Over the past few years the fighting genre has been flooded with a number of different fighting series making their mark on the genre. However all of these games have had one thing in common… they were all 2D fighters. This includes the ever popular Street Fighter series and its numerous iterations; BlazBlue’s multiple iterations, as well as Mortal Kombat and even the upcoming Street Fighter x Tekken.

What the fighting genre is lacking is a quality 3D fighting title, and Team Soul is looking to bring one to fighting fans everywhere with Soulcalibur V. A tale of souls and swords that transcends history and the world will be retold once again. Is this tale one worth participating in or left to fade into the same history it is meant to transcend?

Story:
The world of Soulcalibur has been rather quiet over the past seventeen years however a new war is brewing between good and evil and those who are to wield Soul Calibur and Soul Edge. Over the past seventeen years many new faces have appeared in the world and familiar ones have faded away, will the new generation of fighters be able to stop evil from consuming the world?

Now it is worth noting that unlike past titles, there is no individual story mode for any of the other characters in the game. The only story mode in Soulcalibur V is a structured path that is followed without change. This means that numerous characters are unfortunately left in the dark and barely see any screen time at all in the story, with some completely left out entirely with little to no explanation for why they are included in the title.

Soulcalibur V’s story mode follows the journey of Patroklos, the son of Sophitia Aelxandra as his family becomes deeply entwined in the fate of the two Soul swords. Patroklos believes himself a holy warrior who defeats any malfested, those tainted by the evil Soul Edge, while also searching for the malfested who has kidnapped his long lost sister. However little does he know that his own sister is too a malfested… Can this young man possibly reunite his family and defeat Nightmare to put an end to Soul Edge’s evil once again?

The story for Soulcalibur advances through chapter battles, with each chapter usually consisting of a battle against one or more characters. Before each battle the story will be presented through hand drawn still-images which is highly stylized but occasionally with cutscenes as well. Each of these images are then accompanied by a voice over from the characters as the story is advanced.

While the story mode unfortunately only clocks in at a measly three to four hours depending on player skill, there is a decent story told here with multiple twists that can catch the player off guard. But it is hard to overlook the structured nature of each chapter and the lack of gameplay length.

Visuals:
While the visuals in Soulcalibur IV were already of a high quality, the ones found in Soulcalibur V are clearly a step above and the care given to them by the developers is evident through the amount of detail found nearly everywhere on the screen. The characters themselves are full of detail and have seen various physical makeovers and improvements.

The same level of detail carries over to the Create a Fighter mode where players have the ability to create characters nearly as detailed as the main cast with just as impressive detail and overall quality. The arenas are also very detailed and full of animation in the background that makes the player feel like they are fighting in the middle of a battlefield in some cases.

Audio:
Each of the characters are given adequate voice work and the voice actor for Ezio Auditore sounds the same as the one for the Assassin’s Creed titles. The voice work is usually only exemplified during the Story Mode however as the player watches the various still art scenes and listen to the narration by the characters. One thing worth mentioning however is the great voice work provided by the Narrator who continues to excel in that field from past Soulcalibur titles.

The background music is suitable and players can select their own when they are choosing their match type. Most music provided is themed to a certain character so some themes may sound familiar to those who have played previous titles from the franchise.

Gameplay:
Soulcalibur V offers plenty of different modes depending on what you feel like playing at any given time. These modes range from various offline modes and online modes as well. The offline modes consist of Quickplay which allows the player to battle against pre-made custom fighters that were added into the game by the developers. Defeating opponents in Quickplay unlock various titles to use on the player’s license. Players will also receive experience points for any battle they fight in any gameplay mode which will contribute to their player level and unlock various Create a Fighter bonuses.

There is also the standard Arcade mode that allows the player to fight a series of six battles though no storyline is given in this mode, a training ground, the soul crushingly difficult Legendary Souls mode that players can unlock where they will face off against harder than hard fighters and see how many throws their controller can handle before breaking, a training mode, a VS. mode to face off against friends or the CPU cast and of course the aforementioned story mode.

At its core Soulcalibur has always been a title that allows for players to be able to jump in and have a good time even if they weren’t the most experienced player in the world. Of course an easy barrier of entry doesn’t meant that the title doesn’t contain plenty of complicated combos and extravagant fighting techniques to be learned by the more skilled players looking for a challenge.

Soulcalibur V’s fighting styles have always been a pleasure to try out and each fighter contains a unique set of moves that allow for players to quickly pick their favorite. There are different weapon types with various attack ranges and move sets that each character is a whole new experience that breaths fresh air into a fighting genre oft plagued with blatant copies with a minor re-skin (though there are more sword and shield characters than some may like.) In the character select screen each character is given a grid system showing how fast they can attack, their strength of attack as well as their ease of use so the more complicated fighters are already marked out for the inexperienced.

The new cast of characters is interesting at best and nearly all of the characters’ move sets have been adjusted in some way or another. This includes the removal of some techniques and additions of others for returning characters or characters mimicking past styles. There are a few worth mentioning however that bring unique abilities to the table, such as ZWEI a man capable of summoning a werewolf to assist in his combos and Viola who fights with a crystal ball that can be controlled all the way from the other side of the arena through various combo attacks. Also joining the fray is Ezio Auditore from the Assassin’s Creed series. He brings with him all of his various tricks and weapons and compared to past guest characters he actually fits the style of the game nearly perfectly.

As a whole the battles still feel slow compared to what other fighting series bring to the table. While this can be attributed to the fact that all the fighters use weaponry rather than their fists, the series does contain numerous combos that result in a very brief pause that can leave your fighter open for counterattack. The juggling system has also seen some adjustment as players will receive less damage from normal attacks the longer they are kept in the air and will fall to the ground after only a few hits thanks to Soulcalibur V’s acknowledgment of gravity.

Given that most characters will leave themselves open for a brief moment between attacks, the block button is likely to be the friend of most gamers in Soulcalibur V. While blocking will help you survive longer, the block break mechanic has been adjusted where players will have their blocks broken through and be left vulnerable if they have received too many blocked blows. This is indicated by their Health bar flashing yellow and then red as their block is about to be broken. Players can still break opponents clothing off as well, but this is not tied to the blocking mechanic anymore.

As the player battles against their opponent they will fill up a Critical Gauge in the corner of their Health Bar. When full the number will display a one, and be completely full at two. This gauge allows the player to perform a powerful combo attack called a Critical Edge that will deal a large amount of damage to your opponent and is unblockable if the first attack hits. Also making use of the Critical Gauge are Brave Edge attacks which help extend the length of certain combos and deal extra damage, though these only use half the amount of a Critical Edge attack.

Once you feel like you are ready to take on other fighters around the world you can face off against them in a few different ways. This includes your standard Ranked Battle where you will be given an opponent at random depending on your search parameters as well as Player Battles that let you create and search rooms to battle against your friends. In these Player Battles those waiting will be able to watch the fight happen as a spectator which alleviates the waiting time and provides hints at your opponent’s fighting style.

Closing out the online modes is the Global Colosseo mode that allows players to search for a large room that can fill with a large amount of players and they can join battles and tournaments there with much greater ease than in the Player Battle mode. Another new feature added is the Rival system that lets players register up to three Rivals. Rivals fighting stats are then tracked and compared to the player’s and help provide an easy comparing system.

As mentioned before, the Create a Fighter system has seen a major improvement as far as the level of quality goes. Players will be able to create nearly any type of character they see fit with a large amount of clothing and equipment provided at the start of the game with more to unlock by leveling up. Players can adjust everything about their character including their proportions, color their armor or even add patterns and tattoos and even the weapons themselves. As a whole the Create A Fighter system is the best we’ve seen so far and being able to take your created fighter online to fight against others is one of the biggest thrills the title can present.

Overall:
While Soulcalibur V may have taken a step back as far as a storyline goes, in fact it contains what some may find as a lesser story than ever before. However the amount of character creation abilities and the simple joy of the various fighting styles and mechanics outweigh the negativity of the lacking story. Boasting a lag free and easy to access multiplayer mode players will find countless hours of enjoyment as they create numerous fighters and battle against the AI, their friends and those online Soulcalibur V can stand proud as being one of the most enjoyable fighting games in recent memory.

Global Game Jam – Wollongong 2012

Matthew Vella

February 1, 2012

What’s Global Game Jam?

Imagine this: you grab a bunch of video game programers, designers, developers and such, then lock them in a room together for 48 hours. Then, you split them up into teams and tell them they have 2 days to make a video game and it has to be based on a particular theme. Meanwhile in hundreds of locations around the world countless people are working on their own games with the same theme, competing with each other to make the best game possible within the same tiny time period. Sounds insane right? Well that’s the Global Game Jam, and it’s the ultimate way for an indie developer to test their game-making skills. This year the game jam was held between January 27 through to January 29, and marked the first time a game jam was ever held at the NSW Wollongong campus, and us here at Capsule Computers headed over to check it out.

What’s the 2012 Theme?

This year for GGJ (that’s Global Game Jam for short, try and keep up will ya?) shook things up by instead of making the theme a particular word, participants were provided with the following image:

See that badboy? That’s called the Ouroboros, an ancient Greek symbol of a snake eating itself, representing the cycle of life, death and rebirth. The best part is nobody was told what the image means, meaning some will get it and some won’t, providing endless possibilities and one of the biggest challenges yet in GGJ history!

So How’d It Go Down?

It’s a major struggle to put this experience into words. The Wollongong Game Jam campus while small with only about 30 participating developers, was filled with an incredibly large amount of frantic energy. Once the theme was announced on that Friday afternoon and the teams were formed, everybody rushed to their whiteboards armed with markers and inspiration.

These teams ranged from very experienced jammers to rookies, from people with lots of experience working together, to complete strangers. Some were well-rested and well-prepared, while others were on as little as only 3 hours sleep. Now that’s dedication! Awesome food ranging from chicken & lasagne, to pizza to even subway sandwiches were provided to keep participants motivated as they raced against the clock. At all times the intensity filled the air and yes…it did smell like nobody left their computers for 48 hours!

How Good Can A 48 Hour Game Be Anyways?

Pretty damn good I tell you! The competitive atmosphere was totally justified, as everybody was up against some damn good games. It’s really incredible what hard work and motivation can end up doing as every game turned out to be really impressive!

Contagion is a fine example of creativity. Josh Farquhar was an army of one, making him the smallest team on the campus, and to make matters worse he had very little art skills at hand. This however did not stop him from making a unique, well-made and addictive title. In Contagion players play either against AI or with up to four players as cells in a biological organism, trying to infect each other to gain total domination in this single-button game. With power ups, AI and solid gameplay, Contagion was surprisingly a strong highlight for the event – especially since it was made as a solo project!

After much debate, winner of Best Overall Game went to Growth, a game that stuck true to the theme well by basing it’s gameplay about the life and death of a tree you must take care of, and upon it’s death it can sprout life to a newer and more stronger tree. While gameplay appears simple, much technical depth is involved underneath as there are consequences for all your actions. Too much rain can cause a flood, too much wind can blow away your soil, and too much heat can set your tree on fire. The more you play the game the more you begin to care for the tree and want to nurture it. With some polish, Growth has the potential to become a really addictive iPhone title. What’s mind blowing is that this team of 4 consists of one artist and 3 computer science students who are just in their first year. Check out the game in action here!

The Life and Times of Pepper Jack for me was the biggest surprise, scoring the title for Best Sound as well as getting notable mentions for Best Graphics & Best Game as well. Featuring enchanting character design and a unique dark-yet-cute concept, this game played in the likes of infinite runner titles such as Zombie Runaway or Temple Run. Players control Pepper Jack as he lives his life from cradle to the grave, while trying to avoid distractions that will simply waste his time. The goal of the game is to live a fulfilling life and get to the end (which is death) without living a boring life. Having too many distractions will kill Jack before his time, so avoiding these is crucial. Once you complete your life, your life is judged by the ‘life experience’ orbs you collect of three types – neutral, morally good and morally bad. Aside from it’s creative concept, interesting design and fun gameplay, The Life and Times of Pepper Jack wowed judges mostly with it’s interesting and unique choice sound – a ticking clock that sped up the closer you are to death. This choice proves both simple, creative and effective and fits the theme of the game perfectly. Check out the game in action here!

In Onion Head, players take control of Onion Head – a cute character with an Onion for a Head who loves flowers for some reason. Giant flowers are randomly generated and it’s your job to climb up their stalks to retrieve seed pods in order to plant more flowers in this fun platformer. Consisting of a team of two and an interesting take on the theme, Onion Head’s simple yet fun concept was a joy to play – with hilarious sound effects!

Not to be confused with the Metal Gear Solid title, Snake Eater stood out as the clear winner for Best Graphics, and also scored a notable mention for Best Overall Game. This experienced team of 5 known as Black Wolf Games have entered in multiple competitions of this nature in the past and came in with the advantage of already knowing how to work efficiently together as a team. Snake Eater takes the classic mobile game Snake and gives it a twist – instead of eating food, your eating other snakes. To top it off it’s not grid-based either, making the experience completely fresh and new. Against up to 3 friends or AI, this fun, competitive title is filled with impressive creativity and polish. If the team consider giving this game a bit of extra work & content like online play in the future, Snake Eater could be a pretty fun Steam or XBLA title worthy of a proper release as it is smothered in potential. Check out the game in action here!

While Toob Racer didn’t win any awards, it still remained a strong competitor and stood as one of the crowd favourites. Featuring 3D graphics, Toob Racer contains F-Zero styled futuristic gameplay, with two players controlling spaceships racing each other in a tube. Players dodge obstacles and collect power ups as they infinitely race with no finish line. Instead of reaching the end, the winner is decided by who reaches terminal velocity first. Toob Racer successfully achieves the feeling of fast-paced gameplay and proved to be a really fun experience. Check out the game in action here!

This space-themed title you see above I can’t really say much about other than it’s developers appeared pretty disheartened at their presentation, and the official listing has this game named as ‘The Game‘. While I’m unaware of the details, I hear this team unfortunately had a few dilemmas throughout their creative journey. I can only hope these guys don’t give up and take the game jam as a learning experience to push on and improve their skills!

Snakes and Orbs is a prime example of all the drama a team can unfortunately come across whilst making a game in 48 hours. I really felt sorry for these guys as 24 hours into the event they changed game engines from Unity to Flash, so they had to start all over again from scratch! The final result while a little incomplete, did show the foundations of a quality game where you play as a Snake that can fly, trying to eat orbs to make it grow on a 2D plane in a platformer-styled fashion. Based on their result however, Im sure if they had the full 48 hours to work on their title in Flash, Im confident that Snakes and Orbs would’ve been a pretty fun title to play.

While Super Soul Smash wasn’t perfect in execution, it’s concept is both unique and intelligent and with a bit of work could result in a very quality browser-based game. Taking advantage of a retro 8-bit theme, this interesting Facebook game has you saving the souls of your friends and family from evil demons who want to suck them up. Note when I’m saying your friends and family, I really do mean YOURS! That’s right, this Facebook game is meant to take pictures from your friends list and puts them in the game. Pretty cool huh?

While GGJ may be a competition, more importantly it’s a valuable learning experience. As all participants would tell you, the things they learn during these 48 hours have helped gain them ‘level up’ as game developers, teaching them valuable skills through experience. If you’re a game developer, seriously look into participating in a Global Game Jam in the future and put your programming and designing skills to the test!

Find out what the IGDA is up to here.

And be sure to check out the Game Jam entries, free to download and play. They’re worth a look.

Bluemouth Reveals Vita Accessory Line Up

Joshua Spudic

January 31, 2012

Bluemouth Reveals Vita Accessory Line Up

Bluemouth Interactive have revealed their Playstation Vita accessory line up ahead of the Playstation Vita launch on February 23, 2012. Four of the products have been released in more detail, however, nine products will be available. They include a Game Traveller Case, a Hard Case, a Screen Protector Set and the 8-in-1 Essential Pack. Here are the products in more detail, accompanied by a picture of the accessory in question.

PS Vita Game Traveller Case – RRP $19.95
Hold PS Vita console and 16 games
Carrying case converts to a convenient viewing stand.
Carabineer for secure attachment to accessory bags or clothing
Hard-shell construction for maximum protection
Loop carrying handle
PS Vita Hard Case – RRP $9.95
Hard shell case providing optimum protection for your PS Vita console.
Play your PS Vita without removing it.
folding foot transforms your shell case in to a stand for your PS Vita.
PS Vita Screen Protect Set – RRP $9.95
Protects the tactile screens of your PS Vita console.
Includes protective films for PS Vita rear touch panel and front screen, thin and flexible films that easily fit and an antistatic cleaning cloth.
PS Vita 8-in-1 Essential Pack – RRP $29.95
Includes:
EVA pouch for PS Vita.
Carry and protect your PS Vita, games and memory cards.
Compact and protective storage cases.
Console silicon glove
2 game and 2 memory cards each.
Screen protector kit.
High quality screen protector for the PS Vita screen + antistatic cleaning cloth.
Wrist & neck strap for PS Vita.
Stereo earphone that provide high quality sound for your PSVita.
Universal 3.5mm jack.
Splitter – Connect an additional set of earphones.

With these accessories and more coming out at launch, potential Vita owners are definitely spoiled for choice. However, considering that Australians have to pay premium for the console, memory card and game, accessories may be asking a little much. Then again, it’s not that much.

Sine Mora set to reinvent the shump

Jahanzeb Khan

January 31, 2012

Grasshopper Manufacture and Digital Reality are working on a shmup title to be released as a downloadable title on Xbox Live Arcade, called Sine Mora. Grasshopper Manufacture recently worked on the outrageous and brilliant Shadows of the Damned, and they are hoping that this title will reinvent the shmup genre and take it to the next level.

The game is being billed as a diesalpunk shooter that will mix vintage shooter conventions with modern visual presentation. The gameplay system will feature some new ideas, in particular the boss battles are going to be unlike anything seen in a shmup title, and are being designed and directed by Mahiro Maeda, known for his work on Blue Submarine, Final Fantasy: Unlimited, Animatrix, and the animated sequence of Kill Bill Vol. 1, and has also done artwork for Neon Genesis Evangelion.

The music of the game is being done by none other than Akira Yamora, who is well known for his musical work for the Silent Hill series and more recently shadows of the Damned.

Sine Mora is scheduled for a Q1 2012 release.

Fairy Tail: Zeref Awakens Gameplay Trailer

Luke Halliday

January 31, 2012

Konami have released the first ever gameplay trailer for Fairy Tail: Zeref Awakens on the Playstation Portable.

The new trailer which can be seen below shows off various characters playable in the game as well as multiple features such as Guild creation, costume creation and team creation. There is an unprecedented level of customization in Fairy Tail: Zeref Awakens for a Fairy Tail game.

Check out the new trailer below and let us know what you think in the shoutbox and comments section. Fairy Tail: Zeref Awakens wakes up on the Playstation Portable on the 22nd of March.

DiRT Showdown’s First Gameplay Trailer Speeds Out

Dustin Spencer

January 31, 2012

DiRT Showdown’s First Gameplay Trailer Speeds Out

Codemasters have already put three entries into the DiRT series thus far, and come this May, a 4th will be released under the name DiRT Showdown. Today, a new trailer has been delivered to the fans of the series, and there is quite a few new offerings to see this time around.

In the clip, DiRT Showdown’s 8 Ball event is in full display, showing off some of the destruction that we can expect to see with insane jumps, crossover points, and cannons now in the mix. Boosts can also be used to smash into opponents as well, making the gameplay much more intense and aggressive.

Yes, as you see, this DiRT is about much more than crossing a finish line. This spin-off of sorts is much more competitive and combative, with the racing engine that changed what we know about the genre put to use in not just races, but flat out demolition styled match-ups.

Codemasters recently detailed some of the other modes found in the game:

There are three broad categories to DiRT Showdown’s thrilling action-sports racing. Players will use nitrous to blast past rivals and negotiate courses filled with ramps, pinch points and obstacles in full-contact Racing events. Gaming’s most advanced damage engine is unleashed in Demolition Derby themed events where players smash and crash their way to victory in bone-jarring style. Finally, in Hoonigan events, gamers will send fans wild in huge stunt parks where accessible new controls offer every player the chance to become a freestyle driving hero.

From San Francisco to Miami and London to Tokyo, players will dominate their rivals and wow the crowds on their way to becoming a driving superstar. Pyrotechnics, lasers and thousands of fans give each venue a vibrant sports entertainment atmosphere, with the player taking centre stage. Over 50 different events across four championships will challenge gamers in a variety of conditions – sun, snow and rain – through the day and under the floodlights at night.

DiRT Showdown will feature an exciting new line up of off-road machines. Ken Block’s all new Gymkhana FOUR H.F.H.V. Ford Fiesta debuts alongside an eclectic mix of vehicles across a range of classes. From saloons and muscle cars to pick-up-trucks, hearses and vans, players have a wide selection of custom cars to trick, race and destroy.

DiRT Showdown will be Codemasters’ most connected game ever – split-screen multiplayer, eight-player online racing, on and off-line quick-fire party games and YouTube integration all come as standard. Players will also be able to issue ‘Showdown Challenges’ to compete with friends whether they are online or not.

I remember when I played the original DiRT a good time ago and was mainly blown away by the stunning visuals, as at the time, we had never seen another racing game like it. Codemasters have perfected DiRT to the max though this time around and have evolved the series into a franchise that can truly stand on it’s own due to all the uniqueness involved, so DiRT Showdown could very well be the shining point of the entire lot. Check out the trailer below, and get ready as in 3 months time, Dirt Showdown will be releasing for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

Super Mario 3D Land may see Future DLC

Dustin Spencer

January 31, 2012

Last year, Super Mario 3D Land came out and turned the 3DS’ sales upside-down, assisting in the increase of units sold by miles. Many 3DS owners who have already played through both 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 have one question on their mind though, with that being “what’s next?”. Yes, it is the age of demand, and Nintendo have learned this the hard way.

During a recent Q & A session, Iwata finally enlightened us with news on DLC, and why both Mario Kart and 3D Land could have a bright future ahead.

we anticipate that “Super Mario 3D Land” and “Mario Kart 7” will bring in a substantial profit in the next fiscal year and the year after that. On the other hand, we will be able to do various things in the field of digital business. Up until now, once consumers who had bought a game got tired of it, they would never play it and it would never draw public attention again. Even if the game had the sales potential to other new consumers, they rarely actually bought it because the consumers who already had bought it would never talk about it again and the game would be considered an old one. Having said that, what if we could provide add-on content through the network? As I referred to before, for example, this is the idea of supplying new stages to Super Mario users who want to play the game more but have completed the game and lost interest in the existing stages. This will not only give us new profits but will lengthen the life of a product, in that it will never be out of fashion and can keep attracting public attention as long as many people play it.

We all knew that Nintendo would eventually jump on the DLC train, but it appears that Iwata wants add-ons to be handled with finesse. If you think about it, Nintendo already offer full games as it is, and that’s the way extra content should be handled. Give the consumer a full game, and have them pay for extras to keep interest high some time later, rather than locking away half the experience on release day. I’m sure we are still a while from seeing all of this take shape, but you have to admit that there is a lot of potential here, and it will be interesting to see if Nintendo stays on track with this type of plan in the future.

Melbourne Game Jam 2012

Michael Irving

January 31, 2012

I’m usually pretty slow to get into things. I’ll dip my toe in, take a few tentative steps and test the water, but if I’m not grabbed soon enough, I’ll get out of the proverbial (or literal) pool, dry off and go find something else.

In the case of indie games, I fell asleep in a chair next to the pool, and woke up to find I’d fallen in somehow. And I liked it.

Clumsy analogies aside, I should have seen my sudden fascination with indie games coming: last year, I sunk a total of three hours into Dead Island, five into Deus Ex: Human Revolution, but Edmund McMillen’s side project, The Binding of Isaac, kept me going for more than 45 hours.

: Circle of Snake (Dewald Hein, Duncan Little, Ryan Keable, Trevor Dikes)

Also going for more than 45 hours was this weekend’s Game Jam, a worldwide gathering of indie game devs who volunteer to be locked up for two days and powerhouse their way through the game development process. On Sunday, I went along to check out the unanimously-impressive fruits of the Melbourne chapter’s intensive labour.

Run by the Independent Game Developers Association, and taking place across 48 countries simultaneously, the Global Game Jam gives indie developers of all levels a chance to display their talents to the world. Participants are tasked with prototyping a game from scratch within 48 hours, built around a common theme. The Melbourne event saw 107 Jammers create 27 games over the weekend, at La Trobe University in Bundoora.

: Ave Imperator (Andrew Sum, Dan Clayton, Guy Noble)

Feeling guilty for being well-rested, I arrived on Sunday afternoon to an atmosphere of post-deadline calm. The only evidence of the sugar and caffeine-fuelled chaos that I assume preceded the 3pm cutoff was the energy drink cans scattered around, the wearily proud looks on the faces of many a Jammer, and of course, the quality of the games themselves. I found myself pleasantly surprised at their level of polish, and the enduring good nature of the participants. I mean, I get the grumps after a single sleepless night.

But doing something you’re proud of can turn the sourest of moods around. Despite the condensed development time, the teams had plenty of reason to be proud of their creations – the old adage that diamonds are formed under pressure holds true.

This year’s theme was presented to the teams on Friday as this single image.

For those not in the know (including myself), this is an Ouroboros, an ancient symbol which signifies the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. So loaded with meaning is the symbol that it spawned games about phoenixes, zombie cows, bacteria fighting their way up the food chain and isometric shapes looking for love.

The interpretations of the theme were as diverse as the gameplay styles they were applied to. Whether you’re chasing an ever-higher score as a literal rolled-up snake, finding a suitable location to lay eggs as a platforming chicken, shanking ancient Roman Emperors in a side-scrolling brawler, or protecting baby turtles from dragons in a type of sliding puzzle game, there was no shortage of ingenious designs within the same confines.

Wondering how that simple image of a serpent eating its own tail could trigger so many wildly different games, I sat a couple of teams down and probed their sleep-deprived minds for some insight.

One team, calling themselves Magic Spatula, interpreted the Ouroboros somewhat literally – specifically, following the cannibalism angle.

Team member Jayelinda said that thinking about the consequences of animals eating their own kind led to a game about the notorious Mad Cow Disease – a result of cows being fed other cows.

: Mad Cows (Jayelinda Suridge, Caswal Parker, Shawn Marinaki)

In their game, aptly titled Mad Cows, players must click and drag healthy cows out of the way of the zombified mad cows looking to feast on them. Rubbing two cows against each other produces offspring, with the aim of reaching a target population of healthy cows.

Cruelly entertaining is the fact that the most effective strategy for keeping the mad cows at bay is to regularly throw them a sacrifice, while your herd busily breeds in another paddock. It’s suitably zany, and even at this early stage exhibits a scalable model that could conceivably expand into a downloadable, arcade-style game for platforms like Steam or XBLA.

: Soul Mate (Pouya Aflatoun, Jennifer Sandercock, Clinton Shepherd, Michael Theiler)

Pursuing a more peaceful meaning of the same symbol, the game Soul Mate puts players in charge of that most basic of urges – the urge to find a mate. Characters in-game are shaped as squares, circles or triangles; coloured red, blue or green; and have one of three mating calls. As a character made up of these traits, players must find their perfect match amongst the other basic shapes out there, which you will have one trait in common with and two differences – after all, opposites attract. Finding your mate will extend your lineage, as you play as the child, whom you then have to find a mate for. Each generation, you have thirty seconds before your biological clock expires.

Soul Mate offers a quite complete interpretation of the Ouroboros: there’s the symbolic aspect of the cycle of life, but a more literal manifestation can be found in the level design – the game takes place inside a slowly-rotating, circular landscape, with environmental assets that indicate a day/night cycle.

With a theme based on cycles, it’s not surprising that the most famous of endless cycles – the “chicken and the egg” conundrum – raises its head. Omelette Boris tackles this with finesse, and its polish as a platformer/puzzle game led to it being voted Best Game of the Melbourne Jam by the panel of judges.

: Omelette Boris (James Greenaway, Matt Scorah, Sean Affleck, Ivan Neeson, Tom Greenaway)

The game casts players as a chicken aiming to reach the perfect spot to lay her egg, which you then must guide safely back to the starting location. It’s not as easy as it sounds though. As the chicken, players must first set up a safe path for the egg, which can only roll around, and can’t fall very far without breaking.

Using similar ideas of spawning young, the game Hatch turns offspring into obstacles. As a turtle, players must move around a grid and throw eggs at dragons to clear the level. Each egg thrown spawns a new turtle, which follows the movements of the parent. The puzzle comes from working out how to maneuver around while protecting all the young at once.

Impressed with how far apart the final products branched from such a simple initial concept, I enquired with the team behind Hatch about how they developed their idea into a workable game in such a short time frame. Team member Sam says they played “Idea Ball”: throwing a ball around a circle, with whoever holding it pitching (quite literally) a basic idea, before passing it on. Then comes the task of narrowing it down to a few achievable concepts, and by Saturday morning – about fifteen hours into the Jam – have a basic prototype on which to iterate.

: Hatch (Andrew Brophy, Harry Lee, Chad Toprak, Josh Platt, Sam Wong, Guy Noble)

To prepare for such an intense working environment, the group held a couple of practice Jams of their own, with around fifteen of the Game Jam participants. Those fifteen branched into several projects during the Jam, including Hatch, and an underwater shooter called Aqua Battle.

The “kill or be killed” mentality of the fight to climb the food chain was the basis for Aqua Battle, which its creators call “an evolutionary shooter”. As a microscopic organism, you swim around an open environment killing fellow life-forms for dominance of the little pond. Interestingly, your health/progress is measured by your creature’s size – a kill will make you grow, while taking damage shrinks you.

: Aqua Battle (Derek Pritchard, Mike Blackney, Ariel Magnes, Benjamin McDonnell, Guy Noble)

The large team behind the two games won the award for Best Teamwork – not surprising, when they all insist the Jam is far more of a collaborative effort than a competitive one. Derek, working on Aqua Battle, says that during the first few hours there’s an air of secrecy over the projects, but once everyone is off and running with their own ideas, there is nothing to be gained from guarding the prototypes. Everyone has their own specialties, and sharing skills and knowledge between teams is encouraged.

It may be structured like a competition, but ultimately, the goal is collaboration. The real point of the Global Game Jam is to practice and demonstrate your skills, network with other professionals, indies and enthusiasts of the field, and while it sounds like a cliché, just have fun!

Find out what the IGDA is up to here.

And be sure to check out the Game Jam entries, free to download and play. They’re worth a look.

Aliens: Colonial Marines Makes Contact in New Trailer

Claire Phillips

January 31, 2012

The universe of the xenomorph has had some less than stellar times as of late. The movies have plunged into oblivion thanks to the vs. Predator crossovers and despite the sneaky DS release of the critically praised Aliens: Infestation, most remember the series in gaming form in the same way as the films : Aliens vs Predator.

It seems that something of a return to form is on the horizon, as Gearbox Software and SEGA’s latest keeps pumping out promising trailers and news. Despite a delay pushing the game back from Spring to Fall 2012, Colonial Marines has got people excited about Aliens again.

In this CGI trailer we get an up close look at the marines and the xenomorphs coming into contact, all set to some highly atmospheric music (if you’re a bit of a film fan you may recognise the theme from Moon). Whilst there is no actual gameplay on show here it does bode well for the atmosphere of the game – here’s hoping that horrible claustrophobia and sense of impending doom will carry over into the actual gameplay.

Make sure and check out the trailer below.

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