Ever thought to yourself, “Hey, I want to defend a tower in Assassin’s Creed!” Well you are in luck. You can now play a tower defense like mode called “Den Defense” in the upcoming Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.
The new game mode will challenge players to defend a “den” from invaders, in what looks to be a new spin on the classic tower defense genre. This is one of those revelations that makes you wonder why you never thought about it yet when thinking about Assassin’s Creed. It is seemingly a perfect fit for the series and it aims to push to game beyond any other game in the series thus far.
Ubisoft have released a trailer to promote the new tactical game mode which you can check out below.
Earlier this year a One Piece short film that featured entirely 3D modelled characters, was released in a double billing with a like-wise 3D version of Toriko (because Toriko lives on One Piece’s coat-tails). Now a sequel to the first One Piece 3D, is on it’s way under the title One Piece 3D: Trap Coaster.
While the first One Piece 3D movie, weighed in at 30 minutes in length, it’s sequel will total a mere 12 minutes. The film will hit screens in several theme parks in Japan. It is unknown whether it will get a release in theaters. As of now, it’s unlikely.
What do you think about the next One Piece 3D? Let us know in the shoutbox and comments section.
Battlefield 3 Developer: DICE Publisher: Electronic Arts Platforms: Xbox 360 (Reviewed), PlayStation 3, PC Release Date: October 25, 2011 Price: $59.99 – Available Here
Overview:
There are few series which can draw as much of a following like Battlefield has. There are plenty of modern military shooters on the market but this series has always stayed at the head of the pack, surpassing countless other titles and fighting for the lead against another popular shooter. The series has always had a slight edge over its opponents considering the Battlefield games have always consisted of large multiplayer maps, vehicles to destroy your opponents in and a massive amount of destruction. It has been only a year since Battlefield: Bad Company 2, but this marks six years since the first numbered sequel of the franchise. Does Battlefield 3 retain its place as perhaps the most thrilling and exciting shooter experience around? Let’s find out.
Visuals:
Now the first thing I should re-iterate is that this review took place on the Xbox 360 console. Unlike the PC or PlayStation 3 releases of the game, Battlefield 3 arrives on two separate discs and due to the limited amount of space on these discs there is an optional HD texture install that requires 1.5 GB of space on the hard drive. The reason this is optional is due to the fact that not all Xbox 360s come with a hard drive and most recent ones come with only 4GB.
Therefore I chose to try out the title momentarily without the texture pack installed in an effort to see how things would look between the two titles. Let me say this now, if possible free up space on your hard drive as the HD textures are practically a must. The difference in the texture quality is quite literally night and day. While the most drastic changes are in the environments themselves, one glance at the HD visuals you could see with the package should instantly convince anyone that the 1.5 GB HD Texture package is a necessity.
But on to the HD graphics themselves. Battlefield 3 uses the Frostbite 2 engine and this engine truly delivers amazing visuals. There are impressive visuals all around you as you play through the title’s campaign mode with many scenes simply breathtaking due to how amazing they look. The quality of the graphics you will be seeing is something that should not be missed as everything is impressively designed and textured.
A great example of this is best described through one instance in the multiplayer segment of the title where I was laying down suppressing fire while defending a capture point in Conquest on the roof of a building nearby. In the air above me I witnessed enemy jet damage an allied helicopter enough to force it to begin spiraling to the ground out of control. In an effort to avoid this now on fire spinning helicopter I ran to the staircase inside and took cover, only to witness the helicopter smash through the roof of the building, spin on its side as the rotor blades dug into the ground and tear apart 90% of the building I took cover in before exploding, only leaving the stairwell and a small portion of the roof remaining. This all played out like something that one would see in a pre-rendered cutscene, but was happening right in front of me in a random multiplayer match.
Of course there are a few problems with the engine as well. I’ve experienced a number of texture pop problems where the game took a few seconds to load in the HD textures and this was with both discs installed to the console. There are a few problems with character clipping as well, especially with legs sticking out of building walls that could potentially be an easy kill for those outside. These problems are merely a hindrance however for what is an amazing treat for the eyes.
Audio:
Nobody can ever say that Battlefield 3 is not an atmospheric title. As you play through levels and multiplayer matches you will not only hear realistic sound effects for everything that you are using, but likewise for everything around you. Battlefield 3 does everything it can to immerse you in the action as you move along a section of the field and hear a jet fly past in the distance and gunfire in the direction you are running towards.
Of course the voice acting is just as impressive with most characters sounding like they have been well trained and match the situation perfectly with their tones. More often than not your allied NPCs and even allied multiplayer characters will randomly yell out during action which makes the game all the more realistic feeling.
Single Player:
Now considering Battlefield 3 comes with two discs, it is worth noting that Disc 1 is multiplayer and co-op missions, while Disc 2 is the Single Player mode. This already should let you know what the priority in Battlefield 3 is, but nonetheless EA and DICE have created a rather exciting, if not short and linear experience for people to explore outside of the game’s multiplayer aspect.
Players are initially thrown, quite literally, onto a top of a moving train and have to perform a number of quick time events to enter into the train and begin to try and stop it by killing every terrorist on board and disable the bombs that are rigged to explode. Don’t worry too much though, because before you happen to finish that task you find out that what you just saw was the present, while the game immediately throws you into a flashback and begins to explain what exactly is going on.
Players jump into the role of Staff Sergeant Henry Blackburn who just happens to be in the middle of an investigation for something, at the time, have no idea about. The title quickly flashes back to his time in the field where both he and his squad are in combat in the Middle East. From there the player follows mostly in Blackburn’s footsteps until they find out exactly what is going on and venture through a couple of minor twists until ultimately the conclusion.
Now if this doesn’t sound like an exactly thrilling storyline the truth is that at its core it really is not. The storyline never really takes a chance to expand upon itself and the single player experience is unfortunately hindered by the fact that everything has been limited to a simple straight linear experience. This may work for other titles but the Battlefield series isn’t exactly a series that should have gone that route.
Viz Media have released a boxset collection of all 10 volumes of the Legend of Zelda manga, because they are not stupid. With the 25th Anniversary of the Legend of Zelda being this year, Viz Media would’ve been foolish to not take advantage of the hype and cash-in on it with a nice boxset release of the manga series.
The boxset which comprises all 10 volumes will retail at a price of $69.99 U.S. Whilst they have already released the entire series individually, this boxset will feature each volume as well as a pretty nifty colour poster.
Will you be picking up this legendary manga boxset? Let us know in the shoutbox and comments section.
Ever wanted to take a jetpack for a joyride, whilst avoiding deadly obstacles, murdering innocent scientists and collecting almighty levitating coins? Me too! The good news for you and me, is that we can now download a video game that does all of that, Jetpack Joyridefor the iOS.
Halfbrick Studios, the masterminds behind Fruit Ninja and Raskulls, will be giving away Jetpack Joyridefor the inexpensive cost of nothing. But how do you get to take this jetpack joyriding experience? Well it’s pretty simple. All you have to do is like the App Store Facebook page and follow the simple prompts, then bing bang boom, you are now going on aJetpack Joyride.
Get in quick, who knows when this promotion will run out of fuel. Will you be killing fleeing scientists whilst taking your jetpack for a joyride? Let us know in the shoutbox and comments section.
“Aiming for the next fiscal year, we are also working on new genres of software that may attract people who are not particularly interested in video games”. These are the words of Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, and yes, while they have been taken slightly out of context, one has to wonder what Nintendo have up their sleeve this time.
After posting less than impressive half year financial reports, the Nintendo President spoke, comparing the new range of products to Wii fit and Brain Training, not in the tangible sense, but rather aspiring towards products that perform over a long life cycle and act as catalyst for hardware sales.
In direct relation to the 3DS, Iwata had this to say, “As for our Nintendo 3DS, the hardware markdown has resulted in a huge loss in this fiscal year. However, as we are going ahead with gradual cost-cutting efforts, from a profit standpoint, improvements are expected to be made in the next fiscal year.”
“The present result of the markdown is just an improvement of sales pace of the hardware. After the upcoming November, however, anticipated titles for Nintendo 3DS will be continually released, which we hope will bring a big boost in the year-end sales season.”
From many of his comments, it seems Nintendo are heading in a new direction, or at the least, trying to expand their exposure beyond the traditional gaming market. Talking about the 3DS, Iwata believes the power of word of mouth communications are in their favour. He goes on to say “We can expect the Nintendo 3DS to enter into the phase where relevant information shall be communicated even to people who usually do not proactively seek video game information.”
There are also some exciting new features described for the next 3DS firmware update, specifically relevant to Nintendo’s eShop. All developers can now add DLC after launch as well as the addition of game demos and downloading whilst in sleep mode.
What would you like to see from Nintendo in terms of product development? Are they relying too much on their core franchises which don’t seem to have the influence they once exhibited? Let us know what you think?
President of Blizzard Entertainment, Mike Morhaime has apologized publicly, after a controversial World of Warcraft was shown at a recent Blizzcon event, containing homophobic comments. The Youtube video, which has angered many groups including Blizzards forum community, features George Fisher of the band Cannibal Corpse talking about the game and using many homophobic quips. As many forum users have pointed out, the fact that the speech is censored is little consolation, as the ideology and meaning is still intact.
Here is a copy of the letter sent from Monhaime to Gaygamer which was met with a mixed range of responses from its followers and has set off massive debate on forums and chatrooms.
Dear members of the Blizzard community,
I have read your feedback and comments about this year’s BlizzCon, and I have also read the feedback to the apology from Level 90 Elite Tauren Chieftain. I’d like to respond to some of your feedback here.
As president of Blizzard, I take full responsibility for everything that occurs at BlizzCon.
It was short-sighted and insensitive to use the video at all, even in censored form. The language used in the original version, including the slurs and use of sexual orientation as an insult, is not acceptable, period. We realize now that having even an edited version at the show was counter to the standards we try to maintain in our forums and in our games. Doing so was an error in judgment, and we regret it.
The bottom line is we deeply apologize for our mistakes and for hurting or offending anyone. We want you to have fun at our events, and we want everyone to feel welcome. We’re proud to be part of a huge and diverse community, and I am proud that so many aspects of the community are represented within Blizzard itself.
As a leader of Blizzard, and a member of the band, I truly hope you will accept my humblest apology.
– Mike Morhaime President, Blizzard Entertainment
The letter seems to have been accepted as a positive step towards rectifying the situation, at least with senior members of gaygamer.com who described the apology as “a teachable moment”.
Tell us what you think about the situation; Do you think game companies should be more responsible in the content and attitudes they represent and portray to us. These companies are very influential in the mindset of many young adults and it would be sad to think that a lot of content which might have been seen as innocent in the eyes of the developers or publishers was actually shaping the opinions of the many who encountered it.
While this is a serious issue, Im not sure why Blizzard in particular have been singled out, as I hear derogatory material aimed at some minority group in most games and TV shows on a regular basis. Is it a sign of the times we live in, or is it time we start to take a little more responsibility for our actions and the effects it could have on those around us. Do we need to worry less about what others think and just get on with our lives. Easier said than done, as can be seen from reading the story from the brave reader who posted this in response to the Blizzard event.
Here is a link to the very interesting piece written in response to the controversial Blizzard incident, with some very interesting comments.
It seems that the best time to be a Capcom fan is in the first few months of 2012, because today they have revealed that they will be releasing a Resident Evil Asura’s Wrath sandwich. To be more specific, Resident Evil: Revelations will be released on February 7th on the Nintendo 3DS and Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City will be released on March 20th.
In the middle of those two titles, is the newly announced release date for Asura’s Wrath which will be released on February 21st. This means that between killing various zombies you can also beat down enemies with six arms and get stabbed by a sword as long as the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
Capcom has decided to un-classify a vital piece of information for Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. Namely the fact that the title will be released on March 20th in North America. Before you get too excited, it is worth remembering that this Resident Evil title is a bit different from what you may be used to. Rather than survive a zombie outbreak and escape with your life, you instead play as an Umbrella Security Service team tasked with wiping out any evidence linking Umbrella to the Raccoon City outbreak.
Besides the release date they also revealed that those who pre-order the game through GameStop, Amazon, or Best Buy will receive an additional costume for each of the six playable characters as well as two bonus weapons that are unique to each retailer you pre-order from.
Those with a bit of extra money can also look for the Special Edition which will contain the game itself, a Steelbook with exclusive art, a stylized foil sleeve, and two patches. The patches are a Umbrella Security Service embroidered patch and a Spec Ops Field Unit embroidered patch. Plus if you happen to pick up this version you’ll receive every bonus weapon right off the bat.
Hey you want some cheap game games this weekend? Many of our favorite publishers have some great deals going on right now.
EA Mobile is discounting Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Mirror’s Edge, Dead Space, Plants vs. Zombies and Tetris on iOS. On Android, The Sims, Tetris, Madden NFL 12, FIFA 10 and Need for Speed: Shift are on sale.
Nearly everyone one of Namco Bandai’s iOS and Android titles is on sale, most for up to 50% off.
Direct2Drive sales include Dead Space 2 for $9.95, Borderlands for $4.95, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood for $19.95 and the Penumbra Collection for $4.95.
On GOG.com three Gabriel Knight games are $2.99 each, Sanitarium is $4.99 and Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption can be had for $2.99.
OnLive will allow anyone to play Amnesia: The Dark Descent, F.E.A.R 3, Metro 2033 and Orcs Must Die! for free all weekend long.
Steam also has a huge sale on a variety of titles including Bioshock 2 and Borderlands Game of the Year for $4.99 & $7.49 respectively, among other huge discounts. Check out the Steam Sale here.
