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BurgerTime World Tour Review

November 8, 2011

BurgerTime World Tour
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Monkeypaw Games
Platforms: XBLA (Reviewed), PSN, PC, WiiWare
Release Date: November 2, 2011
Price: 800 MSP – Available Here

Overview:
BurgerTime made its debut in 1982 as an arcade game. Finding a wide popularity, BurgerTime was ported to early consoles such as Intellivision, ColecoVision, Nintendo Entertainment System, and even the Atari 2600.

In the new wave of reconstructed classics, BurgerTime World Tour emerges with much anticipation. But will this reconstruction hold up to its predecessor?

Story:
If you wake up in the morning and have to decide which one of your identical chef hats you want to wear, you might just be Peter Pepper. After getting ready Peter flags down a taxi for a ride to work. As the yellow cab comes near to the burger chef, the driver steps on the gas leaving Pepper in the dust. An evil sausage named Frank Furter was the cab driver and wants to prevent Peter from advancing as a burger chef.

Four world chefs challenge the Peter Pepper’s abilities as a burger chef. By mastering the art of each world’s burger varieties, Peter will be able to defeat his annoyingly persistent rivals.

Gameplay:
With easy to use controls, this title can be fun for casual gamers. Utilizing the left analog for movement, the casual player does not need to worry about potentially confusing duel stick controls. Unlike the game’s predecessor, Peter Pepper can jump with (A). Using the jump along with directionals will help in avoiding enemies like Frank. While I am not against the jump implementation, BurgerTime diehards might be disappointed with this “controversial” move. However, I feel that it is necessary to fit well with the 3D rotating environment.

The clear objective of each level is to create burger(s) by dropping ingredients platform to platform. Once all of the ingredients have dropped onto the dining plate, the burger will be counted as complete. Now the only way cheese, lettuce, meat, or bread can drop from a platform is by having the player walk across the ENTIRE ingredient. Jumping dead center in a patch of lettuce will only make it droopy.

When mere avoidance isn’t enough, use the pepper shaker. Listed as (X), the pepper shaker will momentarily stun any enemy that is sprayed. When you cannot get passed the walking produce, pepper the hell out of them.

Additional to the pepper shaker, there are other items that are available for pick-up. Spatulas can be used with (B) as a whirlwind attack on any enemy. An important note about spatulas is that you do not need to stun enemies before using this ability. Wasting your shaker charges may prove deadly especially with aggressive opponents. Other power-ups include rockets, speed boost, and an ice shield. None of the power-ups last for a long time, and most prove to be more hectic to acquire.

Since the single player is timed, there are ways to complete levels faster. Enemy avoidance comes with a price – more time. Stunning the baddies with your pepper shaker and using (Y) to pick up and throw them can prove useful. If thrown on top of your ingredients, there will be extra weight distributed. Once dropped the ingredient – with baddies – will fall further. This can reduce the time of burger completion and add bonuses to your overall score.

So far I have only introduced one of the several annoying produce that will try their best to kill you. Frank is joined by Sonny, Ruthless Dill, Lim Burger, Chaz, and Habba De Niro. Each enemy has their own special ability and focus. For instance, Ruthless Dill will guard an area and mimic a player’s jump. Do not try and jump over this guy – you will lose. Habba De Niro hunts the player down but will cause an explosion if stunned, killed, or knocked back. This means you should probably run away.

Beyond the wacky looking killer food groups, the player must avoid certain death traps along the journey. Wooden platforms will break after a second of impact. Normally there are spike strips below these wooden steps, so be very careful. Other levels contain areas that will light ablaze momentarily after contact. Do not plan on standing on this platform unless you want a burnt arse.

Boss battles can be difficult. The objective for boss levels are the same as normal levels but with a twist. The boss’s life meter will decrease as you create burgers. However, you may experience tremors, deadly ketchup/mustard gases, and Pepper seeking rockets.

Once I had completed the single player mode, I decided to give the online multiplayer a try. Sadly, I was unable to find a game over the course of a few days. The player community may be scarce at the moment, but the game just released. As the community grows I can see the multiplayer becoming very popular. Remember smacking Frank with that spatula? Well, why not do it to a friend online?

After the online multiplayer was a bust, I decided to try out the local. The player is able to choose to either play a burger battle or a rocket race. The burger battle pits players against each other to see who can create the most burgers. Rocket race requires players to top off burgers while racing against opponents.

One aspect that I liked about BurgerTime World Tour is that the player could choose between being Peter Pepper or their own avatar. While Pepper may complete the story, playing as your own avatar is cool in its own right. Additionally, you can choose among the different rival chefs, Peter Pepper, your avatar, and Mr. Destructoid for multiplayer.

Graphics/Audio
I truly enjoyed the presentation of this retro remake. Incorporating rotational 3D environments to a classic platformer kept the core game mechanics alive with brand new features. Some of the levels are truly complex where players must pay attention to survive. Yes, I am talking about those darn rocket levels where you need to avoid drills as well as spikes.

Being able to see the cause/effect relationship between objects made this game fun to see. If there was a wandering egg below an ingredient that just dropped, that egg would get smashed! If an enemy was hit with pepper, you could visually see them stunned. You jump next to a Ruthless Dill; they jump back. In these ways the graphics definitely help create the “Heck Yes!” and “Oh Crap!” moments.

Artistically mastered to mesh a retro feeling into a modern game, the audio produces a good lasting impression. This became most prevalent to me during the score screens in-between levels. As points were being tallied, I couldn’t help but perform a little jig as I heard the fast arcade beats. And no I cannot dance.

Overall
A rotating 3D environment provides an unique game style that keeps your fingers ready. BurgerTime World Tour could be a fast paced game for casual players or a challenge an achievement perfectionist. The single player can guarantee gamers a few hours of gameplay with replayability on different difficulties.

The downfall lies in the lack of readily available online community. Players can easily become frustrated when waiting in queue, and this is no exception. The game modes, burger battle and rocket race, can be fun but still need a community to play consistently.

The migration and adaptation from classic to next generation was a success. While keeping the basic principles the same – except jumping, BurgerTime World Tour exemplifies a healthy transition of gaming in the past 30 years. While the game may be short and multiplayer lacks community, I am very pleased with this title.

BurgerTime World Tour hits Frank in the Furter for

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare franchise, a soldier in the genre

Darren Resnekov

November 8, 2011

-The following is not a representation of the views of Capsule Computers or it’s staff. This is also not about Modern Warfare 3 specifically although i have played it. This is a generalisation on the impact that the series has had on the market-

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is far from a stain on gaming, but quite the opposite, being the pinnacle in a competitive industry and saturated genre. The franchise is surely the benchmark for the genre, spawning massive online gaming communities. Hell, I’ve even seen on dedicated gaming sites special forum sections for Modern Warfare 2 alone, testament to its overwhelming popularity.

The fact that it has been the catalyst for so many knock-offs that have paled in comparison and sales figures, only shows how influential it has been since its initial launch. I’m not getting into the nitty gritty, as peoples experiences and perspective on different games is purely subjective. What keeps you glued to the screen could not be my cup of tea and vica versa. What we can all mostly agree upon is the fact that Call of Duty is a highly polished franchise that has stood the test of time so far. This new addition to the family is just as bold and in your face as any previous instalment.

I don’t think we can blame its success on the condition of many of its online rooms and the kinds of people who are in a lot of online communities, hell bent on creating havoc. There will always be that player who sits on a spawn spot or hides away with a sniper rifle, killing every noob that joins in. Most administrators, including those responsible for the Call of Duty rooms do a good job keeping them as fair as possible, with many Black Ops hackers playing with mods banned from the servers.

In all fairness, there are not too many directions you can go with this genre, not in the same manner you can with slower moving strategic adventure titles like Uncharted. While i do agree that the story lines could be slightly more engaging, I’m not looking for a love story when I buy Call of Duty, I’m looking to live out a fantasy of controlling weapons and vehicles in a virtual space with no consequences for my surroundings. In this I have found what I am looking for in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and relish in the fact. Call of Duty storylines have always been kept fresh with the addition of controlling multiple characters rather than the same soldier all the way through. I’ve got a crap memory so I’m not going to try and remember the story of each mission.

Lastly I do agree with a few things my colleague said in his article, mainly in relation to the auto-lock and the changing difficulty levels of the recent wave of games. The auto-lock system in Modern Warfare 3 makes the game too easy and unrealistic. Soldiers are not that accurate and it takes a lot of the strategic enjoyment from the experience. Saying that you can disable the feature but especially when playing online you don’t stand a chance of lasting long. My two personal candidates for GOTY are RAGE and Uncharted 3 and neither have auto-lock. It’s this very fact that makes the shooting parts of these games so enjoyable.

The game also plays no different from any of the others and probably would have been more successful as an add-on pack sold at half the price. Imagine those poor fools who paid hundreds for those legitimately purchased K-mart copies. It is a solid title from a solid franchise but don’t expect anything too innovative or memorable. Also it’s not overly long in duration, another example of developers focusing on the multiplayer portion instead of the campaign. I don’t care what anyone says, a game is nothing without a good single player mode and todays aren’t delivering the goods.

These views are that of the author and as such do not reflect those of the other staff or capsulecomputers.com.au as an entity.

That’s enough from me, you be the judge for yourself and let us know what you think, does Modern Warfare 3 stand up to the hype or does it fall short of the mark in your opinion?

Link to the original article which i was responding to here, please leave us your comments.

Call of Duty Is a Stain On Gaming Heritage

Benjamin Webb

November 8, 2011

-The following is not a representation of the views of Capsule Computers or it’s staff. This is also not about Modern Warfare 3, which I have yet to play; so for all I know, it could actually be quite good. This is a generalisation on the impact that the series has had on the market-

Call of Duty, arguably the most influential game of our times, is obviously the worst influence on gaming this generation. In this article, I hope to dismiss Call of Duty for what it is, an influence on gaming that has forever altered it for the worst.

Unlike the influential titles of past, the present title has inspired an entire generation of rip offs and generic clones hoping to cash in on the success of it’s highly accessible and unskillful multiplayer portions, the poorly written stories that are all style and no substance; and lastly, the poor level design that encourages unsportsman behaviour amongst competitors. While it’s possible for developers to commit to developing a game that deviates from this formula, publishers make it increasingly difficult for them to do so. Everyone wants a slice of excrement and publishers are more than willing to force people to make it.

Since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare appeared on markets, very few new first person shooter titles have dared to deviate from the poorly designed template and try something original. Call of Duty can be likened to a Michael Bay film, there’s lots of explosions, lots of faceless enemies that spawn endlessly and little to no difficulty. It’s lowest common denominator dribble that should have only worked once; not 7 or 8 times now. However, developers and publishers are seeing that this is what is selling at the moment, people don’t want a deep or moving experience; hell they don’t even want a fun one. They just want a game that’s the same as everyone has, because it’s the benchmark for peoples taste, they see it as something their friend likes and something that they should be liking themselves.

What I largely attribute to Call of Duty’s success, is not anything that it should be renown for (a good story, fun gameplay, an innovative experience), but rather, how may people had their first competitve experience in gaming with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2). There have been popular multiplayer based shooters in the past (Quake, Unreal Tournament, Battlefield) and each have had a much better design behind them. However, when Microsoft and Sony made this generation of consoles the must thing to have, it created a playerbase that was not present before; the casual gamer.

Now these casuals have probably never played a competitive game in the entirety of their lives and suddenly they have this game where, not only are they able to score some points against that hardcore guy (at school, work, etc.), but that they could also easily surpass him, not through skill, but through a poorly designed system that encourages camping by creating points that are easy to have players conceal themselves into while remaining (mostly) invisible to other players, or otherwise cheap in that any player turning into that area would be in a compromising position themselves. Unfortunately, this is where the lack of skill comes into play. With sticky(roflmao)-aim (seriously, this is just auto-aim), any player turning that corner, or bend, could be killed without a chance to react themselves. I’ve actually done this myself in MW2, so broken.

While gaming has always had auto-aim features, generally in multiplayer games, this feature has been disabled to create a fair and level playing field. Call of Duty changed this, and now all titles that are trying to become big have this feature. Nearly every console shooter now has sticky-aim in multiplayer matches, you can turn it off, but why would you?

With kill-streaks encouraging camping by rewarding players with bigger and meaner ways to kill their opponents, is it any wonder that players would like to find the best places to set up shop and camp? While you can argue that players would eventually run out of ammo and need to come out of hiding to get more, this would be the rare occurance considering the few amount of shots it takes to actually kill someone. And with the amount of kills being made, taking a risk to collect ammo is a lot less risky than it should be. Add on sticky-aim, and you’re damned near invincible.

The last multiplayer point I really want to talk about is the community. With a playerbase as large as Call of Duty’s, non-gamers are going to start looking at the largest fanbase within our past-time as a representation of the entire gaming community. Unfortunately, Call of Duty hosts the largest number of foulmouthed and annoying imbeciles that the world has ever known. Anybody who has played a Call of Duty game over Xbox Live or Playstation Network will know exactly what I mean. There is always that one group of people who will go out of their way to abuse other players, or broadcast pornographic audio over their microphones. While it can sometimes be hilarious listening to, it is almost always annoying any other time. It also reflects badly on the gaming community as a whole.

While the community remains strong, the popularity of the game (as well as the simplicity of the gameplay, skillwise) makes this a prime target for children to pick up and play. Whilever our medium is called ‘Video-games’, parents will think that a title of this nature is okay for a children to have access to and will let them play it, online, with one of the most anti-social communities on the planet. This sends the wrong messages to children about, not only gaming, but general courtesies when engaging with other people. The next generation of gamers are going to be trolls who do nothing but hurl abuse and play poorly designed games because they can’t cope with difficulty, and do not know any better.

Let’s get off multiplayer for the moment and talk about the influences that it’s had on single player games. Most single player games in the past would have all of their budget allocated to the single player experience, and if developers thought it would be cool and had the time, they’d tack multiplayer on as an afterthought. Not today though, now the majority of a games budget is in balancing the multiplayer system, because publishers see that multiplayer is what sells Call of Duty titles, so therefore, it must be what sells their games too.

With this reduced budget, the single player campaigns usually end up being a poorly written and/or designed mess. Furthermore, they will often try to copy whatever was in the last Call of Duty game in the hopes that fans of CoD will be interested in it for its similarities. This logic is close to stupidity. A person has not played the game you’re currently developing, how would they know that it’s similar to Call of Duty outside of screenshots and the few videos available to them? They wouldn’t, that’s how. So instead of focusing on copying what’s popular at the moment, how about coming up with something original and engaging? Seriously, if I wanted to play Call of Duty, I’d play Call of Duty. If I’m buying your game, I want to play your game. Unfortunately, right now in the war simulation styled games, I’ve bought your game and recieved a knock-off of Call of Duty. Why not just merge with Activision and pool your resources into changing the fundamentals of how CoD is played? It has the brand name and the playerbase, maybe you can change gaming for the better?

And what of all this hand-holding in games today. I can’t play a game without going through a lengthy tutorial on how to press an A button on my controller. I’ve been gaming for 20 years of my life (hey that’s nearly all of it), so I know how to do this quite well. This isn’t really a specific gripe about how CoD has influenced gaming negatively, but I’m starting to run out of ideas on things to complain about.

It’s okay not to like Call of Duty people, it’s alright to flush excrement down a toilet; and it’s more than fine to want to play something else.

The video posted below sums up my feeling of playing a Call of Duty clone in comparison to an actual good game.

Be sure to check out the rebuttal by Darren Resnekov here.

3 tips to level up faster in Modern Warfare 3

J. Bradshaw

November 8, 2011

All right so you just bought Modern Warfare 3, and you are all set up to take down some no0bs in multiplayer. May as well earn some extra XP while doing so right? Here are a couple options for getting the extra points.

First, there are specially marked Mountain Dew drinks that have a code on them. Enter the code on the website, link your accounts, and you will receive 90 minutes of playtime where-in your XP is doubled.

Second, by simply downloading the Call of Duty Elite app and registering on Xbox Live (and presumably PSN), you will get two hours of double XP time. Check out Major Nelson’s blog post for more information on Call of Duty Elite and this promotion.

Third, play smart. This one is obvious. Don’t go out in the open like a maniac. Watch your team mates’ back. Reload after EVERY firefight. Strategize and communicate.

Be sure to watch out for other ways to earn XP in the future, as there are sure to be more promotions. Capsule Computers will be sure to let you know what they are and when they happen.

Saints Row The Third: Tim & Eric & Genki Episode

Jonno Weiss

November 8, 2011

So a little while back, we were informed that Tim & Eric would be spreading their unique form of comedy into the world of Saints Row: The Third. More specifically, they decided to bring Professor Genki and his Super Ethical Reality Climax game show to life.

So without further delay, head down the page to watch the full video, but I should warn you, it’s one of the strangest, most random game related videos that I have personally seen…Seriously messed up. Despite the randomness, it’s still quite funny at times, even if you’re just laughing out of sheer confusion.

Saints Row: The Third will be out next week for Xbox 360 and PS3! Don’t forget to preorder it if you want the bonuses such as the Octopus Gun, Man-A-Pult and Stunt Suit. If you somehow manage to comprehend what you watched below, then feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section with us!

Postal 3, A long awaited sequel

Luke Merritt

November 8, 2011

Running With Scissors is back again to deliver another violent installment of the Postal series. For anyone who has played the previous games, they will know how much fun there is to be had. The story takes place after the apocalyptic end to the Postal dude’s week in the city Paradise, when he emigrates to the city Catharsis.

Will you be Good or Chaotic? The choice is yours, much the same as the previous games. Whatever choices you make throughout the game will determine the outcome of the story. The game promises to deliver a satirical sense of humor, large and detailed interactive environments, multiple story paths determined by your behavior, new items such as the Helper Monkey, Grenade Cats and the BadgerSaw and a twisted world inspired by real people, events and philosophies.

The game will feature celebrities such as Porn Star Ron Jeremy, Village People Cowboy Randy Jones, International film director Uwe Boll and Playboy Playmate Jennifer Walcott. Running With Scissors have promise to deliver a great game bringing back all the fun and excitement from the previous games. Postal 3 has yet to be announced a specific date but is planned to be released in December 2011.

For more info head to http://store.steampowered.com/app/10220/.

New Phoenix Wright Live-Action Film Trailer

Luke Halliday

November 8, 2011

A new trailer for the hotly anticipated Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney live-action film, has made it’s way online, this time it is free of variety show hosts commenting over the video.

The new trailer shows off previously unseen footage of the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney film, which is sure to excite fans of the series. The story of the film is still a mystery, but that case will most likely be solved in the coming weeks when those details come to light.

You can check out the trailer below, which I doubt you’d object to watching. Be sure to let us know what you think of the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney live-action film in the shoutbox and comments section.

James Noir’s Hollywood Crimes gets Release Date

Luke Halliday

November 8, 2011

Ubisoft have announced the release date of their forthcoming Nintendo 3DS mystery game, James Noir’s Hollywood Crimes. The new mystery title is set for a release throughout Australia on the 24th of November, 2011.

James Noir’s Hollywood Crimes is a mystery games that challenges players to solve 140 puzzles in order to solve murder mysteries of Hollywood. The game is said to make great use of the Nintendo 3DS’ capabilities in particular making intriguing use of the Nintendo 3DS Camera.

You can find out more information of James Noir’s Hollywood Crimes here. Will you be solving puzzles, riddles and murder mysteries on the 24th of November? Let us know in the shoutbox and comments section.

Mass Effect 3 Beta Gameplay Trailer

Julien Durand

November 8, 2011

You may or may not have heard that late last week the Mass Effect 3 Beta was accidentally leaked to certain Xbox Live accounts and in the ensuing chaos shaky cam footage and screenshots hit the internet. So to spare your eyes the horror, Bioware have released a trailer showing off most of the moments from the beta in pleasantly clear footage.

A Bioware representative has since come out and said the accidental release was due to “human error” on the part of someone over at Microsoft. The internal beta was accidentally flagged for release to those who had signed up for the new Xbox Live Dashboard beta.

Aside from containing both singleplayer and multiplayer, the beta revealed new options players could choose at the start of the game: “Action Mode”, “Story Mode”, and “RPG mode”. Action Mode would streamline conversations, cutting out most decision making, and focus on the shooting, Story Mode would make the combat far easier and allow full decision making, and RPG Mode is the best of the both – the classic Mass Effect experience we’ve come to know and love.

Check out the video below, be forewarned, there are some light spoilers, and do bear in mind that the game is unfinished. As you’ll probably be able to tell when certain sounds aren’t working, bodies fly through the air, and placeholder voices are used.

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