After the disastrous launch of Final Fantasy XIV Online, the development team have enacted their overdrive to deliver various patches in order to create a playable game. Such a shame, considering that Final Fantasy XI Online has received praise from the same group of fans. This led to the delay of the Playstation 3 version of the game. However, after the announcement of “Version 2.0”, the PS3 version won’t see a release this year. However, in an interview with RPGSite, Producer & Director Naoki Yoshida made some interesting comments.
When asked if the game will see a release on Sony’s next generation handheld, the Playstation Vita, this is what Yoshida had to say:
“Yes, currently this is all post-2.0, but because we’re doing a reconstruction of our server system, in those plans, we’re going to make sure that the servers can be accessed by outside devices such as smart phones. Not just the Vita, but also smart phones, so that kind of access will be allowed. What that will open the door to is things like applications that people can used to check their inventory, or check the market and purchase things from the auctions. Those are the things we are laying for in our server foundation, so we can be ready to implement those after 2.0.”
These are some interesting remarks from Yoshida. Of course, he did say it might not be the full game but more of an application that allows access to the servers for other minor attractions. He also mentioned bringing smartphones into the mix.
Yoshida also made remarks on the idea of bringing the game to Microsoft’s Xbox 360. He mentions that “moving it [the PC version] to the Xbox 360 platform wouldn’t be that difficult,” however, he notes that “the thing we have to get done first is getting that PS3 version done.” He told RPGSite that the PS3 version was a promise made to fans and Sony, so don’t expect any other versions of the game any time soon.
Batman: Arkham City Developer: Rocksteady Studios Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Platforms: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PlayStation 3, PC Released: October 18, 2011 Price: $59.99 – Available Here
Overview:
If you had to name a Halloween costume that nearly anyone has worn at some time in their life, Batman would probably be a correct answer nine times out of ten. Nearly everyone has once thought about being the Caped Crusader at least one time in their lives, but recently Rocksteady has made it easier than ever to act as if we were the big Bat himself.
Two years ago Rocksteady and Warner Brothers released Batman: Arkham Asylum which was not only a success in sales, but a title that could easily claim the title as best Batman game of all time. Now the problem with making such an amazing title, is making a sequel that would be even better than the original title. The team has taken two years to create such their sequel, named Batman: Arkham City. Does the new Batman stand up to the original and take the title of best Batman title from its predecessor? Let’s find out.
Story:
After the events that occurred in Arkham Asylum, obviously the prison facility had to be shutdown. However through a strange course of events, every criminal, thug, homicidal maniac and lunatic has been moved right into the heart of Gotham City. No they haven’t let them loose per say, rather they have created perhaps one of the most interesting ideas in their incarceration. They have created something called Arkham City, a large section of the city that has been surrounded with gigantic walls and military grade weaponry. Then they simply let everyone run rampant.
If this doesn’t sound like a bad idea already, the person in charge of Arkham City is Hugo Strange, a villain in the Batman universe. Though while he may be in charge, the true rulers of Arkham City are the in-mates as The Joker’s, Penguin’s and Two-Face’s crews all prepare for a bloody war on the streets of the decrepit city. To make matters worse, a certain rich man named Bruce Wayne has been mysteriously arrested and thrown in with the rest of the criminals.
Not only is it quickly revealed that Strange knows about Batman’s true identity, he goes on to explain that Protocol 10 will soon go into effect. Not only does Batman have to find out what is truly going on inside of this city created by a Villain, but survive amongst hundreds of thugs and the worst criminal masterminds he has ever had to deal with.
With a history as long as Batman’s there is quite literally a ton of content that can be drawn upon to create the world we experience in Arkham City. There is a plethora of characters from the Batman Universe, some we’ve seen before in past games and some that are brand new in this game, but memorable from the comics and animated cartoons. Fortunately for you, I will not spoil these surprising inclusions to the story, as it is certainly an interesting aspect to wonder what villain may show up in the next mission or even as a side mission.
At the same time however some of these characters feel like they are rushed out the door a little too quickly. There are a few well thought out side missions which are not only diverse enough to keep the player interested, but also explore enough about certain character’s motivations to create an engrossing experience. On the other hand there are a number of characters who simply show up for only a few minutes only to be dismissed rather quickly and never seen again.
The main storyline of Batman: Arkham City will run around eight or so hours to beat if you are extremely eager to see the ending, however that doesn’t even touch upon the vast amount of optional content that litters the streets of Arkham City. It should go as no surprise to anyone that Riddler has returned, and the vastness of Arkham City has allowed him to take his twisted game to a whole new level. The city is absolutely littered with hundreds of Riddler trophies meant to be found by Batman, riddles to be solved and certain feats to be performed. All of this culminates occasionally in the need to rescue a hostage being held by Riddler in a deathtrap of cruel design.
Now although she is more of bonus content for purchasing Batman: Arkham City new, Catwoman deserves a mention for her own storyline as well. Catwoman is given four story specific levels to be played in, and they are interlaced with Batman’s own storyline with her missions springing up at certain spots in the game. While her storyline isn’t anything amazing on its own, it is interesting to see the other side of events and it certainly justifies a new purchase of the title.
As a whole, Batman’s story may feel a tad bit rushed through a few characters, but that is only a very small blemish on what Arkham City is as a whole. Batman fans have asked for an engrossing experience and Arkham City delivers that in spades. Even non-fans will find an amazing story within the walls of Arkham City and find themselves searching through every alleyway for trophies and side quests in an effort to extract every drop of play that the title has to offer.
Graphics:
If there is one that can be said about Arkham City, is that it certainly doesn’t look like a nice place to live. The city is in complete disrepair and the occupents of the city have never looked more grim and eager to fulfill their own criminal plans. The city feels like a breathing entity all on its own, as thugs patrol the streets and later the rooftops, helicopters patrol the skies and snow fall, appearing on Batman’s cape.
Arkham City also keeps with Arkham Asylum with the way that Batman’s outfit happens to get damaged over time. There is something to be said about seeing battle damage appear after every major battle in the series and you see Batman growing increasingly hurt as the story moves on. The character designs themselves are absolutely amazing and any Batman fan will be able to easily recognize nearly every villain they see in a moment’s glance. Even the various thug’s for different villains have unique outfits to label them as either Penguin, Two-Face, Joker or non-affiliated men.
Audio:
In Arkham City it is all about the atmosphere and you will find it extremely difficult to not become immersed in the experience provided within the game. As you venture around the city your cowl will pick up on idle chatter between thugs through local survelliance which helps let you know various things that are occurring around Arkham City ahead of time or even provide a hint as to where to go next.
That is nothing to say about how Strange’s or Joker’s broadcasts through the streets constantly make it feel like Batman is truly a man on his own. To make things even better, the voice work for the title is absolutely amazing and Kevin Conroy has done a great job providing the voice of Batman. Plus, though the combat sounds may seem a little exaggerated at times, the sound effects certainly help add to the rhythmic feeling to Batman’s combat system.
Gameplay:
Now being the sequel to Arkham Asylum, it is inevitable to make some comparisons between the two games. However there is one aspect which completely blows the first game out of the water, and that is the fact that Arkham City literally takes place in an open city. The open world aspect of Arkham City is perhaps the biggest improvement to the series as the free roaming aspect that it provides adds an amazing amount of playability to the title. Players occasionally enter various buildings and navigate inside of structures but much of their time will be spent outside gliding through city streets and running across rooftops.
This would all have been for naught if the navigation controls weren’t as top notch as they are here. Players can easily navigate through the city by controlling Batman in a revamped glidign system that allows the player to dive down and pick up speed before swooping back up and traveling a further distance. That doesn’t even cover the use of the grappling hook which easily provides access to any rooftop or ledge nearby during a glide or when running along. There is an issue with the aiming of the grappling hook however when you use the one touch grapple system here, as the system will sometimes pick up a random ledge rather than the one you want.
Now besides the grappling hook and being able to glide with the help of his cape (though I’d love to know how it still works with as many holes as it obtains), Batman has access to more gadgets than ever before. Nearly all of his old gadgets return from Arkham City including explosive gel, remote controlled batarangs and the line launcher, but a number of new ones also provide new ways to explore and fight. This includes a freeze grenade, electric shooting gun and even a gun jammer.
All of these gadgets then flow freely into Batman’s combat system which has not only been transferred flawlessly from Arkham City, but also improved upon. The combat system is very fluid and you will often be able to string together attack combos of 30x against the vast amount of enemies you will be fighting against. While some may see Batman’s combat as a bit simple as all you need to do to win most fights is pummel everyone into the ground with one button, later enemies are introduced which require a few special moves to take down, such as stunning them or jumping over their heads first. That being said there is an immense amount of enjoyment to be derived from fighting the numerous, and respawning, thugs of Arkham as you counter their attacks, take them down with flourishing attacks and just brutalize them by using Batman’s gadgets midfight through a few extra button taps.
Now while fighting and brawling is always a fun way to take out enemies, there is also the stealth aspect of things as well. As in the past game, gunfire is extremely deadly to go up against and there are many areas inside of buildings where you will be able to stealthily take out a number of armed enemies through any means necessary. This means you can of course, try and take them on in a big brawl, but most likely end up full of holes. Players can batclaw up to gargoyles or various other ledges to get the drop on unsuspecting thugs, hide in floor grates or even crawl through vents to stalk your enemies and picking them off one at a time.
Besides the main game there is also the return of the Challenge Map where players will fight waves of enemies to obtain a certain amount of points and unlock Riddler medals for reaching a certain amount. There are also a number of Catwoman challenge modes as well, though these are only obtainable through buying the game new or purchasing a pass.
Now Catwoman herself plays quite differently from Batman, as not only does she use completely different fighting moves, but she also doesn’t sport the same gadgets to get around as the Big Bat does. Catwoman is much more difficult to navigate Arkham City with, because unlike Batman she cannot glide through the city and she only has a minimal range on her whip, which is a replacement for the batclaw, which means she will usually have to climb up a building through a series of timed button presses. Plus she can climb upside down on certain ceilings which is interesting at the very least. That being said, her fighting style is quite enjoyable to see and she does provide a nice little break in the constant attacks you will be seeing as you play as Batman. She only has a few gadgets at her disposal however so don’t expect each fight to be as varied as Batman’s could be.
If you finish the main game and don’t feel like trying out the challenge modes at all, then you can always enter into the New Game Plus mode. New Game Plus is harder right off the bat, as it takes away counter icons and provides tougher enemies earlier on in the game than you would normally see them. This isn’t too much of a problem however, as players are able to take over all of Batman’s upgrades and Riddler data into New Game Plus, allowing players to continue the search for things they haven’t found yet.
Now I did experience a few issues with freezing in my playthrough of Batman: Arkham City. Upon meeting a certain villain underneath the city the camera panned to the side and would not return to its normal position, requiring a reload of checkpoint to fix. There was also a number of times that the game would freeze right when it was started from the Xbox Dashboard which hopefully will be fixed soon.
Overall:
While some may have said it couldn’t be done, Rocksteady has indeed surpassed their previous creation and created an even more superb Batman experience. Batman: Arkham City, at least at its core, is very similar to Arkham Asylum but everything has seen a major upgrade from the past game. Arkham City is quite large in size and there is more than ever to do in the streets overrun with criminals. With more villains than you could possibly shake a stick at, the story often takes unexpected twists and even after you finish it off the main storyline it draws you back in to experience it’s greatness one more time.
Cyanide Studios are dipping their toes in yet another fantasy world. Following on from Game of Thrones Genesis (read the review) is Confrontation, based on the famous board game universe created by Rackham. Fantasy hats firmly on head now, there are fantasy nouns ahead!
Set in the war torn world of Aarklash, Confrontation is a tactical role playing game that sees players developing a squad of elite Griffin warriors in order to battle the evil forces of the Scorpion. Tactics are the name of the game, and players must manage their units to perfection to develop soldiers and creatures that can successfully take on the hordes – including the Alchemists of Dirz, the Orcs of Bran-O-Kor and the ferocious Wolfen. Aarklash? Bran-O-Kor? Dirz? Shhh, just look at some cool Wolverine/General Grievous style robots instead. All better.
The game will also feature an online multiplayer mode, that according to the official forum is going to be totally free to play from the word go. Players can take on other squads from all over the world with no subscription or pay per play fees to worry about.
Details are yet to emerge about the gameplay itself, but Cyanide have plenty of time to get everyone up to speed – the PC exclusive title isn’t due until early 2012.
Remember that leaked photo that apparently showed Assassin’s Creed Ezio Auditore as a playable character in Namco Bandi’s upcoming fighter Soulcalibur V? Well turns out it’s real, Namco Bandi today have announced that Ezio Auditore will be a fully playable guest character in the upcoming game. As expected, Ezio’s assassination weapons of choice – Roman Longsword, Stiletto, Crossbow, Hidden gun and his trademark Hidden blade will all be included in the game.
Ezio joins the ranks of crossover/guest character in the Soulcalibur series with the likes of comic book character Spawn, Link from The Legend of Zelda series and Darth Vader, Yoda and Starkiller from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
Along with this announcement, Namco have also revealed details of Soulcalibur V Collector’s Edition. The pack will include an art bok, original soundtrack CD, the making-of DVD, a DLC card for the Black Knight and Paladin armor sets, plus original artwork and letter on reproduction parchment paper signed by the team at Project Soul.
And on top of this, by pre-ordering the game at participating retailers players will receive Dampierre from Soulcailbur: Broken Destiny as a playable character on day one.
Soulcalibur V’s date has also been confirmed for February 2nd 2012 in Australia and New Zealand. So expect to be play game very soon on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
The latest in PopCap Games’ highly successful, and dare I say, highly addictive Bejeweled series ‘Bejeweled 3’ is now available for download on Xbox Live Arcade. The original casual puzzle game, Bejeweled launched in 2000 and has since become one of the top gaming franchises in history with over 50 million units sold across 17 different platforms. Bejeweled 3 features twices as many game modes of its predecessor, 8 game modes and of cause enhanced sound and graphics for an even better bejeweling experience.
Bejeweled 3 is now available for download right now on Xbox Live Arcade for 1200 Microsoft Points
Name: Squids Developer: The Game Bakers Publisher: The Game Bakers Genre: RPG/Turn-based Platform: iPhone (reviewed), iPad Release: 18 October 2011 Price: $0.99 – BUY HERE
Overview
Pollution is invading the ocean! So obviously the best way to combat this is get some sticky fingered Squids to eradicate the infected sea life and get to the bottom of it! As odd as this concept sounds, it actually makes for a very interesting game and one that was more challenging than I was anticipating.
Gameplay
To be honest, I was expecting more of a kids game given the style of the game and the fact that it’s set underwater, I think I just flashed back to Little Mermaid and thought it’d kind of be like that. Oh boy, was I wrong. The game feels a lot more mature than it might come off as in an initial impression. I mean, early on in the game one of the stage’s goals is to just survive for five turns while everyone runs away and then you lose that squid from your team. And you don’t lose him because he decides to run away with the circus.
While from afar this may look like just another iOS game with an easy enough goal and cute little creatures you use to get there, it really isn’t. This can go both was for you, dear reader, either you will get frustrated and move to easier games with even cuter creatures, or you will love the surprise and find yourself far more drawn into this game than any other.
For those first people, there are some levels that are bite-sized pieces of fun and won’t take you very long to conquer without too much hassle. But as you go on in the game you’ll find that it’ll demand more from you, more time, more effort, just generally more brainpower. If you want a game where you can be switched off for most of it and still manage your way through, this is not the right game for you.
Get used to this screen for some of the levels...
For the second lot of people, strap yourselves in because this game’s going to get interesting.
It is, by definition a RPG game. But not in the traditional sense that everyone jumps to thinking about when someone mentions those letters. You have a team of four squids, a shooter, trooper, scout and healer. They each have their own special abilities as dictated by their class and each get their own special helmet. When you put the helmet on them you have to also select ‘transfer power’ so that the abilities you get from the helmet are transferred to the squids’ stats.
The breakdown of each class is that shooters can shoot bubbles at enemies near them, troopers ‘stomp’ the ground and send close enemies flying, scouts dash their way ahead, and healers well… Heal. I found that the first two classes were the most useful since, ironically, my healer usually died first (what I would give for some self-heal ability) and when the scout made it to an area first he didn’t have the useful firepower to deal with enemies if they popped up. Of course if in ‘get to this point’ goals the scout became useful because he cut down the amount of turns used and hence ended up with a better end result.
Yes, turns as in turn-based. A game format quickly dying in mainstream gaming, although the use of it in this game is such a foundation to the gameplay that I can’t really imagine another way they’d carry it out well. It wouldn’t work at all as well if the developers had tried to make it like the other popular four-person-team-RPGs Dragon Age or Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. As an iOS game there are limitations, and pause and direct is not something you want to be doing on such a casual medium.
The turn-based gameplay means that you have to adapt your tactics to suit, and while there is a bit of a learning curve in the beginning, once you get the whole idea and way to play down you’ll find the frustration leaving and appreciate the challenge. Each turn you get a certain amount of stamina in the form of bubbles, this can amount to a travelling a fair way, or just hounding after one enemy, whichever you want.
You collect pearls as you go, either from clams or when you hit or kill an enemy. These can be used to purchase things in the shop, level up your squids, or unlock items or squids. You can also use the shop to make in-app purchase of more pearls, or other pearl related items. However, they have kept in-app purchases to a minimum and I respect that.
Visual
The graphics are pretty decent, there are some interesting backgrounds and the levels aren’t as repetitive as you might expect from an underwater setting. You’re allowed to zoom in, out and look around the map to plan your moves. You’ll have to take advantage of this because the levels that don’t just require you to fight off the infected horde will require a little bit of looking around to see where you’re heading.
Audio
The soundtrack gives me nostalgic flashbacks to old Nintendo games, I don’t know if that was intentional, but for once I didn’t really feel the need to turn it to silent.
Conclusion
Squids is a surprise, it’s a game with real depth to it despite its shiny, casual exterior. What isn’t a surprise is that it has come from a team of experienced industry developers. It’s a real pleasure to play, with just the right amount of challenge to draw you in but not scold you and make you feel useless. For 99c it’s a fantastic purchase and I would really recommend checking it out if you’re looking for an iOS game that will give you an actual challenge.
EA has released a new trailer focusing on the multiplayer side of the hotly anticipated, Battlefield 3. The latest trailer for Battlefield 3 not only features some new footage of the multiplayer but it also features a glimpse of the Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand expansion pack.
Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand is set to be the first, post-launch expansion pack for the series. The pack features several classic Battlefield maps remodeled with the Frostbite 2. If you have pre-ordered the limited edition of Battlefield 3, you will be lucky enough to recieve Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand completely free of charge.
You can check out the trailer below. Let us know what you think in the shoutbox and comments section.
For those of you playing along at home, this is probably the 20 millionth time that you have heard that Akira, the classic sci-fi anime masterpiece, will be adapted by a bunch of hollywood big-wigs into a live-action blockbuster.
This time however, there may be more bite than bark behind this announcement. Warner Bros. have announced that they have officially green-lit the project, which will adapt the infamous manga of the same name that inspired the original film. However if Warner’s description of the film’s plot is anything to go by there may be some concern amongst fans of Akira:
“Set in New Manhattan, the cyberpunk sci-fi epic follows the leader of a biker gang who must save his friend, discovered with potentially destructive psychokinetic abilities, from government medical experiments.”
This is definitely going to rile up the fans, particularly the “New Manhattan” part. Not only that but currently the actor set to play Kaneda, the films protagonist, is the star of Tron: Legacy, Garret Hedlund. Make of that what you will Akira fans.
What do you think of this very American version of Akira? Let us know in the shout box and comments section.
Nintendo have been readily preparing for their release of Pokemon Rumble Blast! for the 3DS, and now have revealed a few more details of what the game will include. Most of you by now should know the general concept the game has, where players must use “Toy” Pokemon from the Black & White titles to battle the many inhabitants of Toyland while leveling up their main allies. It has now been revealed that the game will have a multi-player mode as well as a Streetpass function to allow full battling and interactivity between other owners of the cart.
Nintendo recently issued a statement to share their excitement about the upcoming release:
“There’s never been a better time to discover the boundless fun of Pokémon,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “As the first Pokémon game for Nintendo 3DS, Pokémon Rumble Blast invites newcomers and veterans to experience action-packed battles with Toy Pokémon in 3D, whether they’re playing solo or with a friend.”
Players have two ways to connect with each other in Pokémon Rumble Blast. Using a local wireless connection, they can play cooperatively in game areas that both players have already completed, which also makes it easier to collect rare Toy Pokémon. By using the Nintendo 3DS system’s built-in StreetPass feature, they can also challenge Toy Pokémon from the collections of other nearby players and view customized Mii™ characters within the game.
Pokemon trainers in angst for that next great Pokemon title can look no further as Pokemon Rumble Blast will be in stores everywhere as of October 24th, exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS.
In 2006, Razer began a trend with PC peripherals where gamers’ headsets, mice, and keyboards all came with onboard memory, so that their custom macros, settings, and preferences were kept from one computer to another (they called it… Synapse).
But wait there’s more! Razer has just announced their new Synapse 2.0 where user preferences, macros, and setting are all stored digitally in the cloud. Meaning that when this rolls out, gamers who use Razer peripherals will no longer be bound by the on-board memory storage of their devices. They can simply use online connectivity to access their peripheral’s settings anwhere, anytime.
Robert Krakoff, the President of Razer had this to say:
Razer Synapse 2.0 gives gamers a convenient, single cloud-based platform to access, maintain, and store settings for all of their Razer devices. On-board memory, with its limited storage for user profiles, becomes obsolete when Razer Synapse 2.0 offers essentially unlimited space for all of your hardware settings.
Closed beta invitiations for the service will be sent out to owners of the Razer Naga who sign up here.
And if you want a more visual explanation of Synapse 2.0, the trailer is below.
