Last week it was revealed that 7sixty would be bringing Phantom Breaker, 5pb’s very Japanese themed fighting game, to North America. Currently there has been no cemented release date besides early 2012. However a new batch of screenshots has been released earlier today by 7sixty which can be seen below.
As some of you who have been following the title so far, you may have noticed that Phantom Breaker contains mostly female fighters, but these new images show a fight between a male fighter named Ren who is apparently a gauntlet user and one of the female fighters named Itsuki who wears a maid uniform and battles with a large hammer.
Metal Dead Publisher: Desura, Indievania Developer: Walk Thru Walls Platform: PC Release Date: December 19, 2011 Price: $4.99 (available here and here)
Overview:
The first in a planned trilogy, Metal Dead boasts what must be one of the ultimate genre mash ups – a zombie apocalypse survival horror metal comedy adventure game . Whew. It’s the work of independent game studio Walk Thru Walls, a developer with the ever commendable aim of making fun and funny games from their studio in Brisbane Australia.
Obviously made with a lot of affection for the adventure games of Lucas Arts and Sierra, Metal Dead manages to tick most of the boxes on it’s very busy list, and with a few tweaks could promise one very entertaining trilogy for the point and clicker’s out there.
Story:
The main plot of Metal Dead adds another load to the zombie bandwagon, with an undead apocalypse sweeping across a city and converging on the building of a slightly suspicious medical research company. The less than fresh plotline is helped along by some barmy characters and bizarre set ups, and the point and click genre removes much of the staleness that now goes hand in hand with yet another zombie game syndrome. Two characters will get the lion’s share of attention – metalheads by the name of Ronnie and Malcolm.
After crashing their car outside said medical facility, Malcolm finds himself surrounded by zombies with one dead friend on his hands. What happens next is a great indicator to the tone of the rest of the game, as Malcolm finds himself aiding a mad professor to decapitate Ronnie and turn his head into a portable zombified hint machine. It’s an ingenious way to keep the two together whilst having only one playable character, and the dialogue that pops up between the two friends (largely stemming from the fact that Malcolm keeps Ronnie in his pants) throughout the game ensures a constant supply of comedy. There’s not much that’s off limits for Metal Dead – see the screenshot below for evidence!
Malcolm must solve puzzles and collect elevator clearance cards to work his way ever closer to the top of the building, where a helicopter awaits him and the other survivors. On the way Malcolm runs into an over zealous police officer, some bored stoners, a doctor trapped in a closet by a giant mutant cannabis plant – you get the idea. Metal Dead nails it when it comes to tone, the script carries off the ‘alternative’ humor very well and it isn’t afraid to poke fun at itself. There are pop culture references thrown in there too, and adventure gamers in particular will spot quite a few.
The ending provoked one of the purest WTF moments of recent memory, and despite that has a bizarre hook to it that somehow makes me want more. Metal Dead is a bizarre beast for sure, and in this genre that’s nothing but a good thing.
Gameplay:
This is a traditional point and click adventure, with the right mouse button scrolling through actions carried out by the left. Mal can talk, investigate, interact and walk, coming complete with plenty of humorous responses to less than appropriate moves. One downside is that you can’t just click on a door to walk over to it and go through it, but it’s a minor irritation at best. Solving puzzles and completing tasks for other survivors earns Malcolm new security cards and access to new levels, and despite a bit of backtracking there’s a good variety to the puzzles, which are solved through the usual means of combining and using various objects collected throughout the game.
Adventure game puzzles can often remove all sense of logic in the name of keeping up the comedy quotient, but Metal Dead manages to keep the solutions to its puzzles on the level. Whilst the situation and what you’re doing may be somewhat insane, it all makes sense in its own unique zombie apocalypse kind of way. It is perhaps too easy on the old think tank, but at least there are no completely baffling object combinations or actions. Ronnie is always on hand to provide some hints if you do get stuck, so make sure and consult your severed zombie head in times of crisis!
Audio & Visual:
Ok, so the art style of Metal Dead isn’t going to blow you away. It’s very simple, albeit packed with bright colors, and it has the distinct air of Microsoft Paint about it. But it fits the theme and feel of the game perfectly – metal heads battling zombies in a point and click adventure game couldn’t really look any other way! The cartoon style allows for plenty of gore and various other excretions, and also let the game flit past Australia’s infamous ratings board with an MA15+.
Character models have lots of detail and the animations manage to pull off plenty of personality despite the lack of voice acting. The larger than normal sprite size and cartoon style allow for a visual that is clearer if less stylish than genre counterparts like Gemini Rue (both were built using the same engine).
The audio does let Metal Dead down somewhat. Whilst the background tracks are fine within themselves they do become repetitive rather quickly, and for a game where one of the inspirations is metal, there isn’t a whole lot of it around at any decent volume. The theme is nicely woven into the plot – zombies don’t like complicated loud noises – but the ‘metal’ here is more to do with how the main characters react and speak than the music. It does crop up on occasion, but Metal Dead could benefit by cranking up the volume.
The MIDI soundtrack doesn’t help matters, and it does add to the creeping feeling that you could find something much like this for free on the Internet. Metal Dead is lucky that the writing and solid gameplay hold up a presentation package that from an audio point of view isn’t comparable with the best indie titles out there.
Overall:
Metal Dead will win you over – no questions asked. It’s funny and bizarre in a way seemingly unique to adventure games, and has plenty of personality in its main characters to keep the trilogy running. It is a bit on the short side clocking in at 3-4 hours rather than the advertised 5-7. And as far as replayability goes – there is none. What it does have is humor and spark, the key components of any good point and click, and with a few tweaks here and there and a bit more ‘metal’, Walk Thru Walls could have something great on their hands.
Wanting to get even more out of Call of Duty Elite? Now you can! Activision have just launched a new app for all iOS devices that lets users of the service take their ranks, stats, and bragging rights with them on the go. Players can track their career, view recent bouts, track their challenge, and organize their custom classes on the go.
Check out the new screenshots for yourself of the application in action:
You can grab the Elite App as of today, but be aware that internet service or Wi-Fi is required. Not a bad deal at all though and hopefully, more companies will follow suit in delivering these useful bits of software in the future.
Shortly after announcing that kimi ni todoke Volume 2’s premium edition would be released on April 10th the release for the first volume of the series has rolled around. Today NIS America’s English subbed version of the first half of kimi ni todoke -From Me to You- is available from a multitude of stores. However there is a bonus if you pick up the title from NIS America themselves. Namely anyone who purchases kimi ni todoke Volume 1 will receive two colored graphic prints and a writable/erasable love letter magnet.
Now for those who don’t know, kimi ni todoke follows the story of Sawako Kuronuma. The poor girl has had a difficult time fitting in to any school she enters thanks to her appearance which looks similar to a terrifying ghost from a popular Japanese horror series. However on her first day of high school she meets Shota Kazehaya, a boy who treats her like a normal girl and romance begins to blossom. The series can be picked up at Right Stuf, The Anime Corner Store, Anime Pavilion, Anime Castle, and NIS America’s online store.
When Modern Warfare 3 was released, countless of people called in sick to work and probably have yet to go back in to their jobs even now. As such, one could expect Activision to quickly jump upon the chance to release DLC for the title and add on new multiplayer maps for their devoted fans. Today Activision revealed when fans can expect to see their first piece of DLC will be two maps which are Liberation and Piazza that can be played both in multiplayer and survival mode.
The content will be available on January 24th for Xbox Live users who also subscribe to Call of Duty Elite Premium and they will receive the maps for free. Elite premium subscribers on other consoles will receive the new maps at a later date. For everyone else the DLC will be available for purchase through a Modern Warfare 3 Content Collection which has yet to be detailed or given a release date. Check below to see images of the Piazza and Liberation multiplayer map.
Nintendo have been preparing to launch Rhythm Heaven Fever on the Wii for some time now, and today a new trailer was released to get fans ready for the big console debut. This clip shows off the many rhythmic games that will be included in the Wii version, and each tune is sure to get you hooked instantly.
If you are still a bit unfamiliar with Rhythm Heaven, this series is known for having players participate in quick mini games and perform gestures to match the music as it blares over your speakers. So far, this version is looking pretty infectious and entertaining as a whole and is definitely welcome on a console that has seen a downtrend in first party releases. You can snag Rhythm Heaven Fever when it hits stores on February 13, but until then, check out the new trailer below…(just make sure your volume is up)
Star Marine: Infinite Ammo Developer: Glitchsoft Publisher: Glitchsoft Platforms: iPod Touch, iPhone (reviewed) Release Date: January 12, 2011 Price $1.99 (BUY NOW)
Overview
Infinite Ammo is a side-scrolling shoot-’em-up in the same vein as Contra and Metal Slug. Light on the story, heavy on the alien evil hordes. You’re a Space Marine. You’re captured by aliens. You apparently escape and find your weapons and armour laying around, and are looking for some payback. That’s about it. The story is drip fed to you in little cut scenes, consisting of a few pretty images and some text. Apart from that, “shoot the bad guys” is gonna have to suffice.
Gameplay
The controls are simple. You have a d-pad on the left allowing you to move left, right, and crouch into a “prone” stance. Then on the right hand side of the screen, you have a jump button, along with an aiming/shooting stick.
In true retro-old-school-new-school style, however, you can only aim in 8 directions; up, down, left, right, and the diagonals at 45 degree intervals. This was probably fine in the old days when there were no analogue sticks in sight, but there are many people out there that have come to expect more controllable aiming controls in a twin-stick shooter.
If you’re a fan of those older titles, and don’t mind the frequency of not being able to shoot at a guy when he’s between the 45 degree intervals, then I’m sure this won’t be an issue for you. Otherwise, be ready to shout “BUT HE’S RIGHT THERE!!!” at your iOS device of choice. There’s a second mechanic which seems to compound this problem. When you’re falling (or jumping), shooting will slow your descent. Now while on paper this sounds fine, and would serve to help you out in combat, there are certain paradoxical moments that arise through gameplay until you learn to deal with them…
Because you cannot fire directly towards a bad guy, you hardly ever want to be in the air. When you’re in the air you lose a lot of mobility, and therefore cannot easily reposition yourself to be able to shoot what you want to shoot at. As your descent is slowed when you shoot, this means that bad guys you cannot currently reach, but are below you will be unreachable for quite a while until you decide to stop shooting and drop to the ground.
While these issues can be overcome by the player by a lot of practice and hard work, or previous experience of playing Contra etc., any newcomers to this style will find it very difficult to work with. There are bigger bad guys, boss arenas, that kind of thing… and as they tend to be bigger or move across the screen a lot, they’re actually easier to hit than the foot-soldiers, until you get to grips with the aiming controls. These boss battles vary from insanely hard to absurdly easy, depending on what upgrades you’ve unlocked.
As you play through the levels you are awarded gems, in a leveling system based on how many bad guys you take down. However, the rate at which you receive these gems simply isn’t fast enough to keep up with what upgrades you need to complete some of the levels. This could be a cunning ploy to push you into making in-app purchases to get these gems, and therefore upgrades, in a more timely fashion.
They also have an “Earn Gems Free!” option which lets you watch a video advertisement in exchange for one gem a go. At the moment each video is 15 seconds long, so gaining gems this way doesn’t take too long, if you don’t mind mindlessly tapping the buttons to star the next ad 4 times a minute. The upgrades themselves include an array of weapons (from rocket launcher to “Storm Cannon”), each of which has 3 levels of upgrades of their own. Hidden right at the end are things like health increases and speed boosts, that kind of thing.
There’s also a screen for buying Nukes (destroys everything on the screen), Icarus Wings (saves you from falling off the screen), and Stimpacks (auto-revives you to full health once per stim), which are crucial for making it through some of the harder levels.
Audio/Visual
The music for this game is pretty good. It has an old-school synthy vibe to it, and fits the game’s milieu well. Some of the sound effects are a little basic, but they get the job done alright. The visuals are good quality, too. The menus look great (though a little buggy), and the cut-scene images are nicely realised. The in-game graphics are in the pixel-art category, but are decent overall, borrowing from the style of Contra and similar games. Unfortunately there were some animations that rotated the sprites, which, while making the animations more fluid, tended to tear the images, making them look a bit ugly in the transitions. However, the look of the game was very run-of-the-mill in style; while it may have that classic look and feel to it, everything’s a little too familiar and bland.
Overall
I think fans of the Contra-esque games will love this title, and be happy to have such a nostalgic game on their iPhone. But the rest of us will have a tough time adjusting to the control scheme. That being said, there is some fun to be had in upgrading your weapons and stats as you go along, and finding satisfaction by making it through those tougher levels.
In my opinion, however, the controls and non-descript style of the game doesn’t draw me in to the game, and even when I’d adjusted and upgraded to get past the hump, the rewards just weren’t enough to keep my interest.
Check out Editor-In-Chief (Philip Federico) MasterAbbott’s game play video of Star Marine Below
Masahiro Sakurai the Director of Kid Icarus: Uprising has confirmed that the Circle Pad Pro will be compatible with the game. However instead of utilising a contrived control system that would ultimately be unnecessarily tacked on, the peripheral is intended to support left handed players.
While the game requires players to aim using the touch screen, they use the thumb pad to move. Since left handed players will not be able to use this control system accurately, the Circle Pad Pro solves this problem.
Sakurai went on to confirm that this addition was added late into the game’s development when the details of Circle Pad Pro were revealed. Perhaps this is why the game was delayed? It’s likely, but still speculation.
What do you think of this intelligent use of the Circle Pad Pro in Kid Icarus: Uprising? Let us know in the shoubox and comments section.
Gamings favorite peripheral manufacturer, Razer, is coming along with their own entry into the PC gaming machine market with their upcoming Tablet, Project Fiona, which looks like a promising device. With a sleek design and running on Intel processing hardware, this should be a very nice addition to any gaming array.
It’s a tablet. It’s a pc.
Project Fiona Concept Tablet runs a PC environment on a powerful next generation Intel processor ready to play all of your favorite PC games. This tablet concept is running advanced applications on an ultra portable form factor, bringing hardcore PC gaming on the go.
The device also features dual controllers which promise to have force feedback, so that you can feel the vibrations of each moce you do. While I’m not entirely sure it’s wise having a vibrating PC in your hands, as you may drop it, this is a feature that some gamers will surely find interesting.
Razer on the Audio –
Audio on tablets sucks today but gaming audio on Project Fiona has never been better with Dolby 7.1 surround sound and it’s the only tablet today to be certified by world renowned audio specialists THX.
The following is a list of currently propesed specifications on the device (keep in mind it is still a concept and these may change over development) –
Tech Specs
Hybrid user interface for PC gaming
Intel® Core™ i7
10.1″ 1280×800 display
Full-screen user interface supporting multi-touch
3-axis gyro, magnetometer, accelerometer
Force feedback
Dolby® 7.1 surround sound
WiFi 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth® 3.0
The Project Fiona is looking like a promising device so far and I can’t wait to see what the final product is capable of delivering. As for my estimated price-point? Based on current specs, I’d wager around $2-2.5k. Be sure to check out the official site for more info.
**UPDATE**
Razer have gotten back to us on what they would estimate the price-point as being, which is around the $1000 mark. So the device is a little more affordable than my own predictions. They are also looking at a Quarter 4 release this year.
A demo for EA Sports’ upcoming Grand Slam Tennis 2 is now available on Xbox LIVE and Playstation Network. The demo includes Practices Court where you can develop your shots as the world’s number 1# ranked player Novak Djokovic, and a Play Now match at Wimbledon’s Centre Court between Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Grand Slam Tennis 2 features an all new control scheme total racquet control, whereby every shot in the game is done with the right analog stick. And for anyone with PlayStation Move the game also fully supports motion controls.
Grand Slam Tennis 2 is set to be released on February 9 and February 10 in Australia and New Zealand respectively for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
