Some massive news from Atlus games as they have unveiled some more of the upcoming Game Of Thrones gameplay via a trailer that showcases the games Combat System and gives a glimpse into some gameplay. For anyone who has been walking around with their eyes closed, Game of Thrones is a massive HBO hit TV show based on George.R.R.Martins Song of Ice and Fire Fantasy novels. The game takes place during the first book and allows unique gameplay by allowing players to control 2 seperate characters (Mors and Alester), through their seperate journeys culminating in them joining a common path, each attributed with unique abilities and weaponry. The trailer is commentated by Aram Jarrabi, Atlus PR manager who introduces what he calls “the core of the games combat system”, The Active Pause System. This allows players to slow down time in the heat of real time battles and allow them to use skills and give orders to allies to gain victory over the enemy. He goes on to describe the differences in characters including their varying classes, skills and weaponry available to them to use, and although each character has preferences in combat such as long or short ranged techniques, they can be modified via the multi class system to your own personal preferences.
Game of Thrones will be available on 15th May 2012 for XBox 360, Ps3 and PC so catch up on the books and tv series before it comes out and get ready the epic adventure.
Munch Time Developer: Gamistry Publisher: Gamistry Platforms: iPhone (reviewed), iPad, iPod Touch Release Date: February 13 Price: $0.99 (HERE)
Overview
If you get a feeling of deja-vu while looking at screenshots of Munch Time, you could probably be forgiven. A cartoon animal platforming across various levels, all of which include three collectible stars, is nothing if not the ordinary in today’s mobile games. Does this chameleon’s adventure stand out from the rest, or does it blend in to the forgettable background?
Gameplay
Munch Time puts you in control of an adorable little chameleon named Munch. As you can probably infer from his name, Munch likes to eat; squirmy, juicy grubs in particular are one of his favourites. So it’s up to you to get him across dozens of levels so that he can get his little reptilian belly full of yummy protein-rich bugs. And try to collect the stars along the way!
At it’s core, Munch Time is a two-dimensional, physics-based platformer, and the game succeeds in getting the best out of a simple tap control scheme for this purpose. Munch can grab onto various flowers with his tongue to traverse the game’s levels. These flowers each have different effects on platforming, doing everything from spinning Munch around, to turning into cannons ala Donkey Kong, to helicoptering Munch upwards.
To take into consideration when using any of these is Munch’s momentum and direction. The angle and distance from which you grasp on to a flower and the timing of your release of it will invariably affect how effective you are in moving Munch across levels and in collecting those pesky three stars that are on every level (and yes, they’re just as addictive to collect here as it in other titles). Also, flowers are only activated when Munch is a certain colour, so to use blue flowers rather than green ones, you must first guide him to a blue colour-blob (it’s never made too clear why there are paint-drops left in suspended animation out in the wild, but it serves the game, so I’ll let it slide) which will change his appearance to (you guessed it) blue.
Aside from the challenge of star-collection, however, the level design of the game is a bit basic. You’ll breeze through most of the first “world” of levels and only be slightly more challenged in the second. That said, an update has recently been released for the game and the new levels and new flower type add quite solidly to the established formula, and if Gamistry keep it up, you’ll have reason to return Munch Time in the coming weeks.
All in all, Munch Time gives players a solid platforming experience that cleverly uses a simple control scheme. It can, however, be argued that the game is too simplistic in both its difficulty and control scheme, and to really get a lot out of it, you’ll have to hope that Gamistry keep the updates coming.
Audio & Visual
Graphically, Munch Time doesn’t do anything spectacular. Yes, Munch is a cute little chameleon and the levels are vibrantly coloured, but there are many games out there that have provided far better renditions of the cartoon style. Its presentation is simply average in almost every way.
The game’s sound design is similarly lacking in distinctiveness. The standard for a title is to provide a merry menu theme and cutesy sound effects in-level, and Munch Time achieves this. But again, it doesn’t really go above the usual, and it fails to differentiate itself from the myriad similar titles out there.
Overall
Munch Time is a game that does what it needs to do well, but no better. It does not stand out particularly from similar products on the market, and its simplicity does no favours to its longevity, but if you’re looking for a new physics-based adventure to take with you on your morning commute, Munch Time should help to pleasantly occupy your time.
The upcoming vehicle combat video game, Wheels of Destruction, is set to be released exclusively for the PlayStation Network. Today we get some more information on the game as well as a new gameplay trailer.
Wheels of Destruction is set to feature five different classes of combat vehicles, one of which is ‘The Assassin’. This is the third class of vehicles shared thus far, with two more classes to be unveiled in the coming months. The other two classes revealed before The Assassin were The Scout and The Heavy. The Assassin class offers a faster and precise fire rate compared to the other classes.
You can check out this new vehicle class in action in the trailer below.
Some news from Activision as they have unveiled a few screenshots and a small glimpse via a trailer of some of the gameplay in the upcoming game Battleship, based on Universal Pictures upcoming feature film which looks like it will be met with mixed feelings from film critics and buffs. The game is set at sea as Aliens have invaded and engaged in a full frontal batlle with the US Navy at sea. Players will take on the role of Cole Mathis, thus taking control of an entire Naval Fleet which will be used to fend off Alien technology and superior weaponry across all elements from Land to Air and Sea. Whether at Sea or on land the Alien forces will be relentless and players will be on edge all the time as they defend the Earth.
Battleship will be available XBox 360 and Ps3 on April 18th, and its also nice that Activision are providing support for the long forgotten Wii as well as the 3DS and DS whihc will feeature slightly augmented gameplay.
After 30 weeks of consecutive serialization of Yoshihiro Togashi’s adventure manga Hunter x Hunter, it has been confirmed the manga will be returning to it’s former status of ‘on hiatus’. This 30 chapter run has been the manga’s longest run without a break in it’s near 15 year history.
The announcement is scheduled to be made in this coming Monday’s edition of Weekly Shonen Jump which will leave the manga on hiatus with it’s 340th chapter.
Fans can rest easy knowing that Togashi at least concluded two story arcs in his latest run at serialization and that the hiatus is only said to be brief. When exactly the manga will return to serialization however is up in the air as no solid date is confirmed. However the fact that it is said to be only brief indicates that it will not be anything like his past hiatuses (1 year in length).
What do you think of Hunter x Hunter going on hiatus once again? Let us know in the comments section below.
Exciting and destructive news from Codemasters as they have released the ultimate bash and crash trailer featuring trucks, cars, vans and hearses in the full impact Dirt Showdown, “Massive Damage” gameplay video, which can be watched on their official website. Dirt Showdown is the latest revelead extension pack to the award winning Dirt racing series and is coming to XBox 360 and Ps3 May 2012 as well as PC. True to its name, the trailer has a heavy emphasis on the more destructive side of the game, introducing us to the world of Rampage destruction derby where 8 players play gladiator in an arena style environment, as well as Knock off, where players have to ram others off a raised platform in order to claim victory.
If theres one thing that Dirt 3 didnt lack in it was varying environments, and Showdown looks no different, featuring tracks across the globe from Tokyo to London and San Francisco each complete with its own unique spectators and atmosphere. With over 50 different races across 4 championships players will have to keep their reflexes sharp and their wits about them to gain a spot in the Showdown finals. Dirt Showdown fesatures 3 main categories, including Racing events complete with Nitro, ramps and obstacles, the destructive and bone grinding Demolition Derby and finally the Hooligan events allowing freestylre driving in open huge stunt parks.
The game will feature split screen multi player, up to 8 player online racing, on and offline party games as well as Youtube integration which has been prominent in the Dirt 3 family. Showdown challenges can also be made to friends whether they are online or not. Dirt is powered by the EGO Game Technology platform and will be released May 2012 for XBox360, PS3 and PC platforms,
Gravity Rush may not be out in North America for a few more months but lucky PlayStation Vita owners in Japan will be able to access the first piece of DLC when it is released on the 22nd. Sony has revealed the below screenshots which give us a taste of what may be coming to North America when the game is finally released here.
As you can see below, the DLC will be called “Spy Volume” and will cost 400 yen in Japan. This DLC will feature a cat suit costume, two side missions, and two challenge missions though to access this content you’ll need to have beaten episode 11 in the main story first.
A Bootcamp Tour will soon be underway by Unity Technologies, provider of the Unity multi platform engine and development tools, featuring 2 day workshops across Asia to celebrate the strong development in the communities and their adoption of the Unity engine and products. The 3 bootcamps will be setup in Seoul from April 9-10th, Tokyo from April 12-13th and Beijing from April 14-15th and will provide those who attend with valuable technical information during the sessions. “The three countries we’ve decided to hold bootcamps in this year paint an amazing and exciting picture of gaming’s history,” said David Helgason, CEO of Unity Technologies. “Japan has shaped some of the strongest and longest lasting traditions and franchises in the industry. Korea has blossomed in recent years into a powerhouse of game design and talent. China, though a relatively new territory for gaming, is growing at an exponential rate. It’s an exciting time for game development in Asia and we’re thrilled to be a part of it.”
The seminars from the developers of Unity’s R&D team will provide valuable insight into the Unity Engine and development tools. Also speaking will be many well known developers from the region who will be sharing their success and experiences with the Unity engine. Additonally Unity will; be running localised seminars that are more relevant to the development communities within each country. It also offers a unique opportunity for anyone attending to gain valubale network relationships with both the Unity tam and other Unity enigine users.
“Asia has a wonderfully diverse set of cultures and aesthetics that translate into some unique games and approaches to game development,” said John Goodale, General Manager of Asia for Unity. “We are honored to enjoy the rapid adoption of Unity in Asia and these bootcamps are to show the appreciation we have for our customers and the tremendous interest we’ve seen from developers throughout the region.”
While we may already know what the box art for Pokémon Black And White 2 will look like, the only image we had of these box arts was from a picture taken at an angle from a Japanese magazine. Today however Pokémon Company has revealed the cover art for Pokémon Black And White 2 officially and they can be seen in all their wonder above.
Well… that is pretty much it. Pokémon Black And White 2 will be released in June on the Nintendo DS for Japan, with a release from North America sometime later. You are free to move along now… or stick around if you feel like but stay out of the long grass unless you have a Pokémon of your own.
Have you ever wanted to play as a God? Well UBISOFT have answered your prays. In Babel Rising you will be able to use your powers to prevent humans from building the tower of Babel!
Hurl bolts of lightning, cause massive earthquakes, or unleash gigantic floods upon the Babylonians. This next-gen version (will be available on XBOX and PS3) of the successful and critically-acclaimed iPhone game adds a new depth to its gameplay with 3D graphics and motion control (Kinect & PS Move).
So what can you do as GOD and what sort of Godly destruction can you inflict on those poor Babylonians!
Prevent humans from building 3 different towers of Babel throughout different historic eras in 15 single player missions across 4 game modes.
Thwart a wide variety of Babylonians united in their desire to build the tower, always looking for the quickest path to the top. Workers carry stones , priests protect workers from spells, and siege towers help them access upper levels faster.
Unleash devastating elemental attacks based on fire, water, earth and air, each with a unique effect depending on the target. Throw fireballs, release tornadoes, rain meteors, and much more. As you progress your powers become deadlier and more powerful than ever.
Command the elements and punish arrogant Babylonians with your own unique movements via PS Move or Kinect for Xbox 360.
Battle with or Against Friends and enjoy competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes.
Check out the video teaser below. Babel will coming soon on XBLX LIVE and PSN soon. Stay tuned for more details.
