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Everybody’s Golf Review

Claire Phillips
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Everbody’s Golf
Developer: Clap Hanz
Publisher: Sony
Platform: PlayStation Vita
Release Date: February 22, 2012
Price: $39.99 (available here)

Overview

Also known as Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational, Everybody’s Golf has a reputation for showing up on every new piece of Sony hardware somewhere around launch day. The PlayStation Vita is no exception, and despite the fact that Everybody’s Golf is perhaps a bit more low key than titles like Uncharted Golden Abyss, it should still be considered something of a big hitter. No matter what your previous relationship with sports games, Everybody’s Golf provides a bucket load of content backed up with some whimsical style, and should definitely not be overlooked when it comes to picking out your first few Vita titles.

 Gameplay

In this game you can track your stats in every last detail, fly over golf courses to plan out your shots and compete with players from every corner of the globe in daily tournaments. You can unlock a myriad of new players, clubs and balls, and customise their outfits and your own online mini golfer. You can play in tournaments to beat AI competitors in Challenge Mode or against your own merits in Stroke Mode. Your best shots will automatically be recorded so you can watch them again later, and if you’ve improved your perfect impact shot percentage the game will let you know.

All of this is carried off with a perfect marriage of a  bright and breezy cartoon style with realistic gameplay. From the main menu you can choose to launch into six modes: single player, multiplayer, online, customise, shop and data. Single player provides a robust selection of courses over challenge, stroke and training modes, multiplayer allows you to join or create a play room, and online holds the Daily International Tournament, lobby, and online rankings. Customise, shop and data are fairly self explanatory, and host a wealth of options to tweak and unlock for all the characters and equipment, allowing you to spend points earned in other game modes on everything from different balls to background music.

In single player you can enter into challenge mode or stroke mode. Both will earn you points and player loyalty, but challenge mode will earn you stars with every win with which to unlock new players and courses. Difficulties are gradually unlocked, meaning that you have to get to grips with the game before you’re allowed to play against the big boys, nicely limiting the difficulty level whilst also bringing a good sense of achievement and progression to the party.

The actual mechanics behind the golf allow for a lot of customisation and flexibility. Golfer’s have different strengths and weaknesses as do balls and clubs, and there are several different gauges to choose from for playing your shots. All of these options gradually unfold as you play the game and level up, so the vast amount of content on offer never feels like too much at once. Taking a shot is a matter of one push to determine power and another for timing, with direction predetermined by the way your player is facing. Wind and weather all come into play, as of course does the gradient of the land and the club you choose to take your shot with.

The game holds your hand in the appropriate places, making the interface appropriately simple despite being packed with information, and flagging up the optimum distance for your shot on the power gauge. You’ll know how many yards you have to go and the maximum distance your club can hit, as well as the wind direction and when putting, the slope of the green. It certainly takes practice but the difficulty curves smoothly upwards, providing just the right amount of motivation to keep playing. Constantly unlocking new content provides even more of an incentive, and the number of courses is pitched so that you can learn the holes without becoming bored.

That said, one messed up play in a 9 or 18 hole course can completely ruin your play session, landing you with a pointless second place or a terrible score. It is incredibly easy to make a simple error on hole 16 and end up ruining half an hour to an hour of play, and with no option to restart a hole you’ll have to play through the entire thing again to gain anything from it. It’s unfortunate that simple mistakes are punished so greatly, because it mars an otherwise relaxed and pleasant experience.

And that’s the key selling point of Everybody’s Golf – it’s all in the title. This is an up beat game, one that let’s you savour the details of every set up and shot, the colour of your players hair and the ball you’re using. This is golf without the stifling, dreary atmosphere that often pervades the game for those who aren’t fans, this is everybody’s golf.

The multiplayer adds some great longevity to the game. Every day sees a new International Tournament, allowing players across the globe one shot to face off against each other on a chosen course. As you would expect there’s a ream of stats and graphs that come with it, allowing you see how you;ve improved over the days. It reflects the incredibly extensive stat tracking across the entire game, and provides a constant source of competition when there are no matches available in ad hoc.

The Vita’s motion based control options aren’t really much of a player here, and although you can use the touch screen to swoosh between the multitude of camera angles available there’s no forced use of anything – Everybody’s Golf is all about button controls.

Audio & Visual

Everybody’s Golf is a lot more of a mixed bag when it comes to presentation. The characters all have a nice splodge of bubbly personality, but the courses and obstacles on them can be a bit on the grainy side. There are a few nice details in there that back up the light hearted nature of the game, but you can’t help but feel that certain objects could have been a bit smoother or clearer – here’s looking at you foliage…

The background music is chirpy and light without ever becoming irritating, but the constant comments of the caddy’s may have you developing a whole new set of rage issues. Menus are easy to navigate and the loading screens are handy mini tutorials, and the screen layout in game manages to provide a shedload of information without ever becoming over cluttered. There are a ridiculous amount of camera options to choose from, which allow you to pan over the entire course or follow your ball from every angle – you can even take a shot from a first person view and follow it using augmented reality, which is a neat if superfluous touch.

Overall

Everybody’s Golf comes to the Vita armed with bucket loads of charm, a mountain of stats and plenty of unlockable content. The realistic golf mechanics are backed up by a welcoming dose of light hearted cartoon quirk, and the gameplay is quietly addictive in it’s own way.The kick in the ribs that it gives you for the tiniest of mistakes can very suddenly mar the experience, but in the scheme of things it’s a small blot on the largely green and cheery landscape of Everybody’s Golf. The graphical quality could be higher and the caddy’s can go and die in a fire, but those minor irritations aside this is an incredibly detailed, well built game that deserves a place in your Vita collection.

 8-5-capsules-out-of-10

Modnation Racers: Road Trip Review

Joshua Spudic
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Modnation Racers: Road Trip
Developer: SCE San Diego Studio
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform: Playstation Vita
Release Date: 22/02/2012
Price: $29.99 (Available Here)

Overview

Modnation Racers is Sony’s kart racing franchise which spans two of its platforms: the Playstation 3 and the Playstation Portable. These games offer customisation on a grand scale, from tracks to karts. Now the franchise makes its debut on a third platform: the Playstation Vita. The gameplay and scale of customisation do make the jump to the new handheld, which could mean the racer can cross the line in first place. However, will the finicky touch controls and lack of online multiplayer make the racer stall at the starting line?

Gameplay

Modnation Racers: Road Trip can be split into two areas of gameplay: racing and customisation. In terms of racing, you can expect the thrills of the Playstation 3 version of the game in the Vita port. In the races, one can drift, bump and jump throughout the track. Shortcuts will pop up during the races. Weapons are also in the game. They are colour-coded and can be powered up by collecting weapon orbs of the same colour, up to Level 3. A bolt of lighting and a fiery attack are two examples of weapons present in the game. If you don’t want the weapon you have, then you can convert it to your boost bar for an extra edge in the race. What I love about racing is how quirky it can be. It doesn’t take itself seriously, even though it is quite a competitive race. While the race can be quirky, it can also be challenging. Through the default and created tracks, the races can be tough with the various obstacles lying around. Don’t expect any race to be a breeze.

In terms of race modes, players can choose a quick race, which is jumping into a race on one of the default tracks, a track you have downloaded or a track you have created. Then there is time attack, where it is you against the clock. The game also has a career mode, which included five tours of six tracks. Here you can unlock pieces of gear for both your kart and racer. These usually involved grabbing a certain amount of weapon orbs or obtaining a certain amount of drift points. Tokens are also scattered along the tracks. Trade them in at the Token shop for more gear. Finally, there is adhoc multiplayer. This is the only form of direct multiplayer with the game, there is no online multiplayer. This is a decent selection of game modes for the player to try out.

The strength of Modnation Racers: Road Trip is the customisation features. They are extensive. One can customise their racer, their kart and create a track, as well as pose with their racer using augmented reality. First up, let’s look at the customisation of the racer. There are a lot of options in terms of what the character can look like. One can change their skin, eyes, clothing and more. Players can also add stickers to various clothing. Karts follow the same formula plus it also adds wacky and crazy parts, like a nuclear powered engine. There is so much one can do with their kart and racer. However, the menus for the customisation can be a little finicky. Precision is required to select the items and to navigate through the menus.

Track creation is on another level all together. Players begin by drawing the track on the Vita’s front touchscreen. Once that is done, players can do one of two things: auto populate the track with the player’s chosen theme or add the props themselves. Buildings, obstacles and even mountains and lakes can be created, all using the Vita touchscreen and rear touch pad. Yes, none of the physical controls are used for track creation. The time of day can also be changed. Players can test race the track. What I can say is that, with the creation tools, anything is possible. All of this can be shared via Wi-Fi. You can also download created tracks.

What makes Modnation Racers: Road Trip disappointing, however, is the lack of online multiplayer. The kart racing genre is best played with friends. This is possible, but only through Vita to Vita, which is adhoc. This makes the player feel alone and isolated, despite the sharing abilities. There is another form of multiplayer known as asynchronous multiplayer, which is used for the time attack mode. However, players must be always connected in order for it to work properly, meaning that, if you have the Wi-Fi only model, don’t expect your time to be saved for the world to beat. This is not the most ideal situation. Hopefully, Sony can fix this with a patch to add online multiplayer.

Visuals and Audio

I really do enjoy the visual style of Modnation Racers: Road Trip. It feels quirky, cheeky and somewhat right. The kart animations are smooth, although there will be a minor drop with the frame rate when the action heats up. The tracks look beautiful and also bring their own personality to the game. All of the buildings and the terrain are smooth and bright, thanks to the natural brightness of the OLED screen. The audio also brings personality to the game. The tunes are decent, but quirky. I do love the kart sound effects, which is dependent on the parts of the kart, as well as the weapons.

Overall

Modnation Racers: Road Trip does so much right, yet falters with certain elements needed in this genre. The gameplay is enjoyable and does offer something else to other kart racing games. The customisation is in fact the strength of the game. However, there is no online multiplayer and navigation via the touch screen seems to be finicky, requiring precise control. These also extend to the customisation of the various elements. The visuals and audio are quite good. For those who want a kart game that is different or are big fans of Modnation Racers should pick this up. However, it would be hard to recommend it to anyone else.

7-0-capsules-out-of-10

Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom: The Complete Series Review

Travis Bruno
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Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom: The Complete Series Review


Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom: The Complete Series
Studio: Bee Train
Publisher: FUNimation
Versions: Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack
Release Date: January 31, 2012
Price: $74.98 – Available Here

Overview:
It has become increasingly popular over the years for popular visual novels in Japan to be adapted into anime form and given at least a few episodes here and there. Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom, is one such anime, as it is adapted from the Phantom of Inferno game developed by Nitroplus, however rather than receive only one brief season, the anime was given two seasons containing twenty six episodes when it aired in Japan.

FUNimation has previously released the two seasons of Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom back in January of 2011, however this marks the first time anime viewers are able to pick up the entire series in one package, as well as the first time that Phantom fans can see the anime in the glory of Blu-ray. Is Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom an anime worthy of being remembered or will viewers wish they came down with a case of amnesia to forget the experience?

Story:
Memories are what make people who they are, however what would happen to someone if they were to lose all of their memories? A young man awakes in a mysterious area with no memory of who he is, why he is there or even where there is. However he quickly remembers that someone is out for his life, and that this someone is very close.

Suddenly a masked attacker begins to assault this man, telling him that he must fight or die. Choosing to live, this man fights with everything he has; only to find out his attacker is a girl. This girl introduces herself as Ein and tells the man that he must now live as an assassin, a person meant only to kill others and act as an instrument of death for a mysterious and dangerous syndicate known as Inferno, under the new name of Zwei. If he refuses he must be killed. With no memory of his past and only Ein existing in his memories this amnesiac man must now enter a world full of blood and death as he tries to stay alive and discover anything about his past.

Now while I would love to explain more of the story, it would truly be a shame to spoil anything past that point.  Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom is a mystery thriller at its best with a heavy focus for character development rather than any overarching story development. This of course means that those eager to see how characters evolve as a story goes on will find exactly what they are looking for in Requiem for the Phantom.

Not only is the story focused more around developing the characters, but the way it goes about developing said characters is also genuinely enjoyable to watch. Rather than the characters being developed through their actions alone, it can often be seen as the work of the entire cast of characters. Out of this whole cast, our amnesiac main character Zwei’s personal story as a whole is interesting to watch as he undergoes many changes throughout the series, growing both as a person and a main character.

Now while the focus obviously rests on Zwei’s storyline, Ein’s character is even more intriguing as she is already introduced to viewers as an emotionless assassin. Watching her journey from this state as the series goes on is a highlight of the series. Other side characters such as Cal Devins receive their own story arcs as well, making it so nearly every character who appears in the show has at least some development occurring throughout the twenty six episodes.

Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom’s storyline is very dark at times and tackles some very difficult concepts throughout its run. The series balances story with action well enough, though focuses less on action most of the time which can be a bit disappointing. However the amount of suspense and character development will keep viewers watching for the entire series. Though more than a few may be disappointed with the final minutes of the final episode as it seems to come completely out of nowhere   for practically no reason whatsoever and will leave a sour taste in most viewers mouth, as much as it did my own.

Visuals:
At its very best, Bee Train simply manages to accomplish a rudimentary job with the artwork present throughout the entire series. The character animations are fluid enough with the occasional drop in quality during fast paced scenes, though this is a rare occurrence as the battles themselves are usually presented with great fluidity, keeping the viewer on the edge of their seat as they watch the action unfold.

The character designs themselves are visually pleasing with a decent amount of diversity in the cast and special details added for some of the characters, such as Zwei. The background and environments work well enough, but again don’t stand out a whole lot in the end. Also, while the Blu-Ray accompanying the release provides a nice clean anime to watch, the DVD version has a fuzzy appearance over the entire series which may affect your viewing pleasure. For this reason it is great to see the combo pack containing both the superior Blu-ray alongside the lesser DVD.

Audio:
While some purists may wish to avoid listening to the English dub and simply stick with the Japanese voice cast, they would be missing out on some quality voice work provided by the English cast. One of the best things about an English dub is that the voice actors can come from every walk of life and carry with them various accents from around the world, or at least perform them accurately enough. This helps create a more accurate sounding dub than something a pure Japanese cast could accomplish. While the Japanese voice cast may still provide an adequate job, the obvious choice between the two is the English dubbing.

As far as the background music of the show is concerned it is adequate enough with plenty of different genres that help match the scenes occurring at any given time. Considering this collection contains two seasons, it also contains two openings and endings. The openings are “Karma” and “Senritus no Kodomotachi” while the ending songs are “Jigoku no mon” and “Transparent.” Each of these opening and ending songs are enjoyable to listen to and are set to some rather stunning animations as well, though out of the four the two best pieces are “Jigoku no mon” and “Senritus no Kodomotachi.”

Extras:
Those who pick up Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom will be quite surprised to see that not only does the entire package come with a large quantity of discs containing the series itself, but also two discs containing all of the special features for the releases. These two discs contain most of what you would expect with a FUNimation release, such as clean versions of the opening and ending songs and trailers for past and upcoming releases from the company.

Besides these standard inclusions however are twelve picture dramas that are spread across the two discs. These picture dramas range from three to six minutes each and combined they contain quite a substantial amount of extra footage. These picture dramas are usually funny and enjoyable to watch which is a stark contrast to the dark nature of the main series as a whole. It is worth noting that the picture dramas are all in Japanese only with English subtitles, though this shouldn’t hinder viewers much from enjoying the comedy.

Overall:
Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom is an anime all about storyline and character development. While there may be plenty of dark aspects to the story, it provides a great drama interspersed with action. With the complete collection released by FUNimation we see all 26 episodes in one package, a package that will keep you entertained for hours on end as you watch episode after episode to see how the characters will evolve as the story progresses.

9-0-capsules-out-of-10

Max And Ruby: Mole Mashing Fun For Free!

Jessica Barabas-Bui
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Daily App Dream is doing their usual magic, offering Max & Ruby: Max’s Mole Mash for free! So you can achieve of your mole mashing dreams without having to pay anything for a limited time! So if you were craving some mole-mashing action then this will be the perfect thing to pick up, for this weekend only.

Max & Ruby is a super addictive game, the perfect time waster, which involves tapping the screen when a mole appears. Simple enough, and just the right formula for the sort of game that will keep you entertained for those boring travels.

Max & Ruby: Max’s Mole Mash features 8 themed mole mashing machines, two unique modes of play (Arcade and Puzzle), unlimited number of levels to play and mash, 8 wallpapers, and a mini-game that you can unlock if you’re skilled enough.

Max & Ruby: Max’s Mole Mash is available NOW for FREE for iPhone, iTouch and iPad HERE.

Barbarian: The Death Sword Review

Jessica Barabas-Bui
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Barbarian: The Death Sword
Developer: Microids
Publisher: Anuman
Platforms: iPhone, iTouch, iPad (reviewed)
Release Date: 27 February, 2012
Price: $1.99 – Available Here

Overview

Imagine this, one of the most beautiful princesses in the land has been kidnapped, taken away by an evil sorcerer, and you are the only one who can help. You with your rippling muscles, inability to be swayed by snow or lava, and amazing skills. You also like to wander around in a loincloth and have no name, only legend. On top of all that, it’s a remake of a classic that was originally released in 1987 on the Commodore 64.

Gameplay

The gameplay is about as simple as you can get, and doesn’t really stray from the original. There is a d-pad that sits in the bottom left hand corner of the screen, an attack and defend button and every so often a special move also pops up once you’ve landed enough hits.

The controls aren’t anything to write home about, in fact I’d say the opposite. Especially at first try, they do get rather annoying and leave a lot to be desired with their accuracy. Despite the fact that they are simple controls, they are deceptively tricky to get a good handle on them. The response time is also not great, and more than a few times I was left yelling at my iPad as my opponent managed to pull off a last second defense that came out of nowhere and blocked my kill shot. It’s all a matter of getting the timing down and in comparison with the reaction time of games these days the timing takes some pretty intense predictive ability. Still, once you manage to get that one down, everything becomes quite easy.

Rather than a learning curve it’s more of a line. There’s the part when you don’t know how to handle it, and the part when you do and it ain’t exactly a challenge. But don’t worry, that will change once again when you get to the final fight with the evil sorcerer. It requires you to completely change tactics, though the adjustment – while a direct contrast – is easy enough to make. By the time you make it to the end of the normal mode of the story line you’ll be fairly familiar with the controls and the timing. At that point even upping it to the next difficulty level won’t cause too much issue.

Apart from the story mode there is also arcade and survival, which are unlocked through finishing the previous modes. The arcade mode involves defeating a set number of enemies in a row, while survival involves, well, surviving. While the difference between these modes isn’t very distinguishable, and the story remains the same, but it actually does get addictive enough for the whole thing to be enjoyable.

While the storyline is little more than a glorification of an uber-barbarian-man who goes to rescue the bikini-clad princess, it’s still an improvement from the original game.

The game stays fairly loyal to the original game, and anyone who played it when it initially came out will truly appreciate this revival of the classic.

Visuals

The graphics are quite good, and a really fantastic upgrade from the 8-bit version. The graphics are sometimes slightly buggy, and there is sometimes a delay in terms of moves being shown visually. While this is annoying and sometimes does affect gameplay it is mostly just an inconvenience.

The graphics are well stylized and the characters are well designed, the barbarians have got a real barbarian air to them. Excluding your playable barbarian, they’re all actually rather sensibly dressed and look about ready to take on the world. The bikini-clad princess is just about as scantily clad as possible, appealing to the male demographic.

Audio

The soundtrack has also got the whole barbarian thing down, making you feel like you’re stuck in a movie. However, it is quite repetitive and gets to a point where you could probably sing along if you felt so inclined. Like the lagging of the visuals you will most likely experience some lagging in terms of the sound effects. Turning the sound off is something that I would not blame you for, especially since the grunting sound the men make is less than ideal.

Overall

Barbarian: The Death Sword is a great remake of a classic fighter. However, the fact that it is based on a classic arcade fighter from the 80s means that it may not appeal to everyone. The controls are a bit of an effort to get a handle on, but the game can get quite addictive once you’ve got it under control, but once you have mastered it entirely you may find yourself moving on to another app.

7-0-capsules-out-of-10

For more on Barbarian: The Death Sword, check out the gameplay video done below by our very own Master Abbott, who also holds the original game dear to his heart.

Meet The Voice of The Darkness: Mike Patton

Roger Ma
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If you thought the voice of demonic The Darkness was created through a whole heap of electronic feedback loops and filters well think again. You may be in for a surprise to find out that the voice of The Darkness is in fact Mike Patton, leader singer of alternative metal band Faith No More. Reprising his role as the voice of The Darkness from 2007’s The Darkness, you can check out Mike Patton as he takes on voicing The Darkness below.

Or while you’re at it – check out Mike Patton’s incredible vocal range during a Faith No More concert  in 2009, and yes he is pretty insane.

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An8jIjr7EO4&feature=related[/pro-player]

The Darkness II is available now on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. Check out what we thought of The Darkness II in our review here.

Mass Effect 3 Launch Trailer

Luke Halliday
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EA Games have released their official launch trailer for what is undoubtedly one of the biggest games of the year, the hotly anticipated third instalment into the massively popular Mass Effect franchise, Mass Effect 3.

The launch trailer for Mass Effect 3 can be seen below. We got a chance to go hands on with the game in Sydney which you can see here.  We also got to interview Robyn Théberge the Associate Project Manager which you can see here.

Mass Effect 3 will be released across Australia and New Zealand on the 8th and 9th of March respectively. Will you be picking up a copy and fighting the good fight? Let us know in the shoutbox and comments section.

Charlie The Unicorn – Capsule Theatre Of Vision #10

Benjamin Webb
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“Charlie, Chaarrrlliieeeee, we’re on a bridge, Charlie.” Yes, we’re on a bridge on our way to candy-mountain here at Capsule Computers in that we have been absolutely hooked on Charlie The Unicorn. So it goes without reason that in this weeks installment of the rather infrequent column, Capsule Theatre of Vision, that we showcase this amazing work of art.

So lets all follow the directions given to us by the magical Leoplurodon, it’s going to guide the way. The Leoplurodon is pointing us below, down below this article to the embedded video box, where your kidneys may reside.

“Lets go on an adventure, Charlie”.

Binary Domain Review

Travis Bruno
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Binary Domain
Developer: Yakuza Studio
Publisher: SEGA
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (Reviewed)
Release Date: February 28, 2012
Price: $59.99 – Available Here

Overview:
One of the most obvious signs of a technologically advanced culture is the presence of robots that actually can perform various tasks that help their masters in everyday life. However there is another belief that goes side by side with advanced robotic technology… where does society draw the line between what is human and what is robot? Where does the line between human and machine lie? Sega’s Binary Domain tackles this difficult action while also offering a third person shooting experience. Does Binary Domain offer an enlightening experience or are there a few bugs in this machine?

Story:
In 2080 AD the entire world has suffered quite a few problems, however the key issue that occurred around the world was a global flooding of disastrous proportions. This flood killed much of the world’s population and also destroyed a large amount of the large cities around the world. This worldwide disaster could only be rectified by one thing, and that is to create robots capable of performing everyday tasks, including providing a tireless workforce tasked with re-building society. As the years passed robots began filling in practically every aspect of normal life with it not being uncommon to find a robot performing tasks in nearly every building.

With the robotics industry on the rise, the various countries around the world signed the New Geneva Convention, which created many new laws for the world but the most important of these was Clause 21, a clause that would make it illegal to create any robot that could be considered human by any means. Anyone who violates such a law will be set upon by a “Rust Crew,” an international team of special agents tasked with enforcing Clause 21.

You play as Dan Marshall, an ex-soldier who has been sent to Japan with his partner Bo to meet up with other agents from various countries to investigate one man, Amada and his company Amada Corporation. This happens shortly after the realization that not only could this company be in complete violation of Clause 21, but they have done so by creating robots known as “Hollow Children.” Hollow Children could be practically anyone, as their appearances are completely human and even their memories are human. In fact, the creation and programming of the Hollow Children is so advanced that not even the Hollow Children realize that they are robots, even when they are staring right at their robotic parts once their skin has been removed.

While the storyline for Binary Domain is one that we have seen on a few other pieces of media, it is also the first game of its kind that brings up the question as to where the line between humanity and machine is drawn. Binary Domain takes this premise and creates a fascinating story that grabs a hold of your attention and doesn’t let go until the credits role. With unexpected plot twists and an enjoyable cast of characters which are given a decent amount of humanization throughout the story with most of the focus paid towards protagonist Dan Marshall and his past dealings with robots, Binary Domain will present a storyline more than capable of supporting such a philosophical premise.

Audio & Visuals:
Binary Domain is given a full voice cast with plenty of different accents to fit with their countries of origin, which fits perfectly when you first hear Cain, a French developed robot, talk with a  French robotic accent. The rest of the game is given decent voice acting with side characters given plenty of variety with their voice work. The game’s background music is unfortunately forgettable and doesn’t do too much to stand out.

One of the best parts of Binary Domain is how visually impressive the entire game makes itself. As you battle through a variety of environments each area looks absolutely amazing. However this doesn’t even hold a candle to the designs of the enemy robots you will be facing off against. You will usually be facing off against standard enemy types more often than not, but there are plenty of different robot types scattered throughout the game that always keep things interesting, especially the amazing boss robots you have to face off against.

The robots you face off against are great looking, but the cast of human characters have a wide range of emotions and plenty of facial detail that look outstanding in cutscenes, only heightening the visual pleasure that Binary Domain provides.

Gameplay:
Binary Domain focuses nearly entirely on squad based combat as you battle against hundreds of robotic enemies and progress through various levels. Combat is extremely enjoyable, though perhaps a bit simplistic in the end, as the game makes heavy use of the tried and true cover formula. This means that players can easily slide in and out of cover through he push of a button and hide behind a wall or piece of cover to avoid taking damage from incoming enemy fire.

You will have a variety of different weapons to take on the robotic horde with characters able to carry a standard pistol, an assault rifle that can also fire stunning energy blasts, as second slot to carry a variety of other weapons such as sniper rifles, LMGs, Rocket Launchers and more and finally a large variety of grenades such as your standard fragmentation to EMP and KISS (Sticky) grenades that all provide plenty of different ways to take on the enemies you will be facing.

Oh and you will be facing a large amount of enemies. Now whenever you face off against an enemy in a standard shooter, a headshot or something similar would put an end to the confrontation. In Binary Domain however you are facing a foe that does not feel pain, does not feel fear and is only tasked with killing any intruder. As such you will be facing off against enemies of all different sizes and types with a large amount of ways to put an end to you and your crew. Against most standard enemies players will be able to aim their shots and take out the robots legs to force it to crawl on the ground or even blast off its head and make it attack everything within blasting radius, including other robots.

This goes even further with the amount of various boss enemies you will be facing off against. Most boss enemies are stylized to be similar to animals and each one has their own unique battle style and weak points. Most of these boss battles do well to break up the pace of your standard cover shooting with many of the large bosses needing special tactics to take down. This usually involves frantic shooting with plenty of running around to avoid the wide-ranging and powerful attacks most of the bosses deliver. These fights provide a satisfying amount of variety to the game as well as a few quick-time events that are scattered throughout the game alongside various rail shooter areas.

Also serving to expand combat is a method to upgrade your weaponry as well as your teammates weaponry to boost their damage, accuracy, reload speed etc. These upgrades can be very useful, though there are a few times where, rather than be able to pick which teammates you want on your squad, you are forced to take specific members, which means your upgraded characters can easily be left behind for multiple levels. Another inclusion to help boost the Rust Squad’s abilities are through nanomachines which can be applied via a small grid system that allows for various upgrades that do everything from raising your health, to offering higher damage output or even allow you to gain “Trust” faster.

One of Binary Domain’s biggest selling points is the Consequence System, which basically translates into how well each of your teammates trust you. This trust meter can be affected through a number of things; such as your answers to various in-game questions from characters and also by your performance in battle. If you are doing very well in battle, earning various bonuses, getting elaborate kills or reviving your teammates the trust meter will rise, while performing poorly in battle, shooting or hitting your teammates or needing too much help can lower the trust meter.

Also included in the game is a way to provide voice commands to your characters via a headset. This can be done with the Xbox 360 headset or the Kinect, though the game is not optimized for Kinect use in any way, and simply makes use of the peripheral as a microphone that will be prone to picking up TV noise. The headset itself isn’t much better as the voice recognition in Binary Domain is hit and miss at best, with there being a few occasions where the game thought I was speaking when I was not. Thankfully, the player can still provide commands in combat or answer questions via a few button presses and receive accurate results with the same result as voice commands.

Besides the enjoyable single player campaign a number of multiplayer modes have been included in Binary Domain as well. This includes a standard competitive multiplayer mode where players will face off against one another in a variety of gameplay modes with your standard matchtypes that include team deathmatch, capture the flag, and area control. These multiplayer modes don’t really do anything to special to stand out and could be seen as a simple diversion to the main game.

Besides competitive multiplayer there is also a wave-based survival mode that allows you to face off against an endless stream of robotic opponents. These waves can get extremely difficult very quickly as the enemies unleash strong firepower early on so prepare for a challenge if you wish to survive long.

Overall:
Binary Domain offers an intriguing storyline with enjoyable gameplay that pits you against a foe unlike what most gamers are used to. This unique setting and tight combat creates an enjoyable experience that only helps drive home how great the story telling is for the single player campaign. While the advertised Consequence System is far too easy to manage the level of quality found in the single player campaign provides an amazing and visually impressive experience that will be hard to put down once those credits roll.

9-0-capsules-out-of-10

Gravity Rush Heading To European Retailers June 13th

Joshua Spudic
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After the announcement of the North American release date for Gravity Rush, Sony Europe have revealed that the Playstation Vita game will head to European and PAL territories June 13th, the day after the North American release. Accompanying the announcement came the revelation that the game will be released on the Playstation Store and at retail. This reversal in Sony’s initial decision to release a digital only copy in Europe and PAL territories has been met with sighs of relief from European customers, who now don’t have to import a physical copy of the game from North America.

Gravity Rush has already seen a release in Japan on February 9. The game includes a female lead named Kat who has the uncanny ability to control gravity, yet she has lost any memory of herself. She wakes in a futuristic world under attack from unknown forces. Various gravity storms appear in the sky out of no-where and wreak havoc while strange creatures terrorise the population. It is up to Kat to defeat these creatures and save the world.

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