Mercury Hg Developer: Eiconic Games Limited Publisher: UTV Ignition Entertainment Platform: XBLA, PSN (reviewed) Price: 400 Microsoft Points, $4.99 Release Date: 28th September 2011
Overview:
Players with a magpie like fascination for shiny things rejoice! The Mercury series has returned to consoles after successful releases on the PS2, PSP and Wii, and this time it’s in extra shiny HD. Coming in at a bargain price of $4.99, Mercury Hg offers an unusually relaxed bout of tilt and travel gameplay that utilises flowing liquid metal in the place of a rolling ball/marble/monkeyholder.
Gameplay:
There are 60 short levels to complete, as well as a handful of challenges and bonus levels. Players can use their own music to personalise the experience and make the levels keep time with their favourite beat. The gameplay premise is a simple one – get the mercury to the goal. Of course there are plenty of obstacles in the way, and the game isn’t afraid to pile them on. Conveyor belts and magnets quickly join sticky tiles and perilous slopes, floor tiles rotate and form underneath the blob and chunks of the level slide along with it.
The mercury flows rather than rolls, following the path of walls if you hit them at speed and dripping off edges when you get too close. It’s more forgiving than a monkey filled ball or marble, making for a more fluid experience that gives you a slap on the wrist for minor errors rather than chopping your head off. PS3 owners can choose to control the mercury with the SIXAXIS tilt function, a choice which definitely needs a bit more concentration than it’s analogue stick counterpart.
There are five atoms to collect in each level that force some completionist exploration, and a bit of complexity is added by the ability to change the colour of the mercury. Stumped by a green only section? Split the blob in two with the nearest pointy end, use some primary school art to remember that blue + yellow = green and et voila! Use the game’s strange hovering colour changers
to make one blob blue and the other yellow, splat them together and roll on through in a fetching metallic green.
It all flows together very well and the controls are impeccable – this is one very solidly built game. No matter how many obstacles and bright colours it throws at you, however, it never becomes difficult. Levels can look incredibly chaotic but never require any thought to complete – the puzzle aspect is kept light and unless you want to challenge the leaderboards with a perfect time then there’s little reason to replay the stages.
The four atom achievements for each level are never difficult to come by, and they can easily be handled in two quick play throughs. Put on a laid back bit of electro and meander along without a care for the timer, collecting every atom and delivering 100% of the mercury to the end goal, up the tempo with the next track and blitz the level as fast as you can – one atom for completion, one for speed, one for atoms collected (in level) and another for 100% mercury.It all makes for a very relaxing style of gameplay and it feels like that is the developer’s intent – Mercury Hg isn’t out to frustrate or challenge, it’s just a bit of chilled out escapism.
Collecting atoms unlocks the next set of levels, neatly presented in the chemical groups of the Periodic Table. There is DLC on the horizon that unlocks two more groups, which should extend the somewhat short life of the game. It is only $4.99 though, so I can’t really hold a grudge for the depth of the content considering the quality. It’s a game best handled in light and breezy chunks, a filler rather than a feature.
Audio & Visual:
Mercury Hg is packed full of bright colours, dynamic, flowing levels and light electro music. Platforms rotate and change colour to the movements of the mercury, and in the background sound bars pulse to the music. Everything is cleanly cut and boldly coloured, and the quality is very high for such a game at the bargain end of the spectrum.
Players are free to use their own playlists instead of the in game music, a feature which can change the tempo of the game entirely depending on your genre of choice. Stay similar to the in game tracks and have a chill out session with some electro, or stick on some bass heavy rock or up tempo dance music and space out with all the pretty colours!
The impact of the music on the background of the levels has been a big selling point in Mercury Hg’s press releases, and the game’s tutorials are all for it – this is a FEATURE. It does make for a cool bit of personalisation but it’s just a basic beat response – media player visualisers can do better. However put it together with the electric coloured chaos of some of the levels and Mercury Hg provides a visual feast – maybe even a visual overload. This is definitely not one for gamers susceptible to motion sickness!
Overall:
Mercury Hg is best handled in small trippy chunks, whacking on whatever music you fancy at the time and chilling out with your mercury blob. The build quality is impeccable and although the roll to the goal gameplay lacks any real challenge it is still engaging in its simplicity – so put down those intense blockbusters for a second and let your brain unwind to your favourite tunes.
Dark Souls Developer: FromSoftware Publisher: Namco Bandai Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (Reviewed) Release Date: October 4, 2011 Price: $59.99 – Available Here
Overview:
A couple of years ago, a game was released which many had not seen in a very long time. An unforgiving challenging title with a design focused around killing the player as much as possible in as many ways as possible. That title was Demon’s Souls and FromSoftware’s ability to create a deathly dangerous environment was honed to a razor sharp edge.
Now we have Dark Souls, best seen as a spiritual successor to the past title. With an entirely new world, new elements and their newly learned skill of punishing players we have a game that is something more than a game. It is a challenge and an experience that puts a gamer’s skill and puts it up against a spiked wall and then pours acid on it for good measure.
Story:
In the world of Dark Souls, the Undead are a bane on society and anyone marked with a ‘Darksign’ is sent north to be jailed until the end of eternity. You are one of these undead… but a mysterious ally provides you the means to escape this prison of death. Doing so will only lead you into a world full of so much death and chaos that perhaps the prison wouldn’t have been so bad after all.
Dark Souls is a game with a very subtle story, one that is relatively nonexistent at parts but still there. The player can easily go hours on end venturing through areas of the game before coming across the next plot point for the storyline. That isn’t to the game’s hindrance however. While most titles would suffer from the lack of an always present storyline, the world of Dark Souls is more than enough to speak for itself. The atmosphere that is constantly present and the places you will venture through speak volumes for the state of the world which is an immense accomplishment.
Graphics:
If there is one thing that can be said about Dark Souls, it is that FromSoftware must have a very interesting imagination when it comes to designing their worlds. While some companies would take the standard route of creating basic worlds but that wasn’t enough for Dark Souls. The design of everything in the game is twisted and grotesque.
The enemies you face at times are going to be unlike anything you have seen before in a video game and it never lets up for a second. The diversity of the areas you venture through range from tunnels in the earth, dark dungeons, rotting swamps and abandoned castles to name just a few. There is so much variety in the environments that venturing from place to place is always a treat, though one that is stained with your blood as you crawl onwards.
This all culminates on the fact that the open world of Dark Souls is amazingly large. Things that are seen in the distance are actually places you will end up venturing too at some point in time or where you have already been. The amount of detail is immense and worth every ounce of effort you will put in to see it all.
Audio:
The atmosphere of Dark Souls is quite impressive. There is always some sort of noise occurring and most of the time it works perfectly to accentuate the place the player is traveling through. Hearing an enemy a distance away can heighten the tension like nothing else, especially when you are low on health and struggling to make it to the next bonfire.
On the other hand the voice acting for the characters you encounter is suitable and there is nothing really wrong with their acting but neither is it really it something that players will end up noticing or paying much attention to.
Gameplay:
For those that have played Demon’s Souls not a whole lot has changed at the basic level. Upon starting the game players are given a chance to create their own custom character, including facial appearances, gender, build, a free starting item of their choice and of course their class. Selecting your class can be something quite difficult to come to terms with, as it determines your starting statistics, level and also your starting armor making the choice difficult for a game that already takes that word and brings it to a new level.
After creating your character and entering the world of Dark Souls the experience is one of pure evil. The world of Dark Souls is filled with brutal and vicious enemies who want nothing more than to spill your blood. That doesn’t even involve the world itself where traps are hidden everywhere and running around a corner to quick could easily send you falling down a cliff or hole to your death.
Death is almost an absolute in Dark Souls. Most games take death as a punishment and finality, but here in Dark Souls death is something that happens so commonly that you’ll quickly grow accustomed to what happens when you die. Upon your death you will leave a blood stain behind which will be covered with a green mist. In this mist you will drop all of your souls and collected humanity that you have one you.
The souls and humanity are extremely necessary, which I will mention momentarily, so obtaining what you have lost is a high priority. Players must venture to the place that they last died and touch their bloodstain to reobtain their lost souls and humanity, but although this may sound easy in theory it is far from it. If you die before you manage to make it back to your bloodstain then they will vanish completely forever. In a game where nothing is certain and even a simple enemy can be deadly this creates a challenging atmosphere.
Souls are the utmost important item in the game as they serve not only as experience points, but also money. Players can purchase new items from merchants with collected souls from defeating enemies or also put these souls into leveling up their character at bonfires. Quickly losing souls can not only be detrimental to your progression but also to your overall character growth at the same time making each challenge truly a struggle of life and death.
Now if you were paying attention you may see that I mentioned something called a bonfire. These bonfires are placed around the world of Dark Souls in certain areas and they serve as a sort of checkpoint and reprieve from the world around you. Players can sit at the bonfire to refill their health, replenish their supply of Estus (health) bottles, as well as let them level up their character if they have sufficient souls and even restore their humanity.
But there is one downside to the bonfire, and that is every time you rest at one the enemies in the world will respawn in their standard spots. This doesn’t pertain to bosses thankfully but this also means you cannot simply run away from a fight to heal and then expect to jump in against weakened enemies. Plus, the bonfires will serve as your respawn point, making for very long treks sometimes to make it back to your lost souls.
Now earlier I mentioned Humanity and restoring yourself to a human again, and this has its benefit. Players can acquire humanity in a number of ways, either killing fresh undead, randomly from enemies or finding it in the world. If the player restores themselves back to being human they will be more likely to find rare items and can also summon other players to help them in battle. When summoned players will appear and phantoms and this is extremely beneficial for difficult fights where two can make all the difference between victory and becoming a blood splotch on the ground.
Other player interaction is somewhat limited in the world of Dark Souls, though it is certainly intriguing. Players can leave messages for others to warn them of traps, difficult enemies or even provide strategies and help finding items. However there are also people who can simply put a sign up to try and get you killed as well, which always leaves a vague feeling of distrust whenever a message is spotted.
Still, playing online is certainly a must. As you venture around the world of Dark Souls you may occasionally see a silhouette of someone taking the same path as you, or resting at the same bonfire that you are. While I mentioned earlier that players can join your game to help, they can also do so to hurt. Players can venture into others’ games as a red phantom and can kill the player if they are human, though doing so can have their name listed on a public board called the Book of the Guilty where they can be seen for their murderous ways and have vengeance visited upon them.
I’ve mentioned it periodically, but Dark Souls is extremely brutal. Every step you take will be one that has been earned by battle and determination. There can easily be times that you will die multiple times before discovering the right path, or realize that you will need to face down these difficult enemies because that is the only way to advance.
Enemy AI is extremely impressive and the weakest enemies can still be threatening, especially when attacking in groups. Enemies will defend against your attacks, retreat to heal and do their best to end your life as best they can. But in the end, the difficulty never becomes so obtrusive that you will want to never play the game again. Perhaps you may need to take a break occasionally to let your anger subside but the true value of gaining a victory over a difficult opponent is never more prominent than after you succeed after several failed attempts. Still, there are enemies later in the game which will feel so unfair when you fight them that it definitely feels like the game is taking a cheap shot at your desire to finish.
That being said, there are also a few problems that players may encounter outside of the difficult game. That is the control scheme. Most attacks are performed with either the trigger or the shoulder button on the Xbox 360 version of the title. The shoulder buttons are barely used in most games, reserved usually for quick use items or similar things. Instead they are essential to combat which means, until you become accustomed to the controls, you may press the wrong button to attack and use a healing item instead.
Also there is a unique but frustrating feature in Dark Souls. That is the fact that the game has literally no pause option. Sure you can enter into your inventory or your statistics menu if you wish to, but this does not pause game time. Enemies can and will attack you while you are in your inventory screen which creates a hectic but extremely immersive experience. It isn’t like you would be able to freeze time and pull a new sword out after your old one broke would you? That would be too forgiving for your lack of preparation.
Overall:
Dark Souls is a challenging game. So much so that it could easily be one of the most frustrating to be released this year and stand right up there with difficult titles from the past. Plus there is little to no explanation for a lot of the complicated systems, expecting the player to learn by doing or from past experience which only heightens the challenge.
With all of this you would expect Dark Souls to be a title that wouldn’t have a player coming back time after time but that is the wonderful thing with Dark souls. It does. The world that the game takes place in is amazingly in depth and quite confusing meaning there is tons of exploration and trial and error to be had. Plus the exhilarating feeling of needing to advance further and defeat that difficult enemy finally will drive you to put easily over fifty hours into a game that demands your sweat and blood at every turn.
Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle Episode 1 – “The contract lurking in the labyrinth”” Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle is a perculiar series, in that on the surface it bleeds of Shonen game-based series like Yu-Gi-Oh or even Beyblades. However, those similarities I assure you are only on the surface. Phi Brain not only is one of the best pilot episodes thus far of the season, but it is also one of the ones with the most potential to grow into something great.
Like Yu-Gi-Oh and other game-based series, the heroes here are often faced with some form of a game or another, the game here being puzzles (sudoku, crosswords, labyrinths, etc.). Now unlike other game series, there really isn’t any marketable item here. Which I believe is for the better. The puzzle concept is incredibly unique and while it may sound monotonous and tedious, believe me when I say, it is a stroke of genius.
The puzzles actually feel as though there is something greater at stake then most episodes of series in this genre could hope for. The way they have been used to build tension and intrigue took me completely by surprise. I went in with low expectations but left salivating at the mouth needing my thirst for Phi Brain to be quenched.
But let’s track back to the story. We have our hero, Daimon Kaito, an outcast who just generally doesn’t give a damn about anything besides… well, puzzles. We start off with Kaito assisting some self-proclaimed “Puzzle King”, that is until the “Puzzle King” goes and activates a trap that nearly kills them both. This was a nice little cold open, it both engaged me from the get-go and had me interested in what was to come.
The world of Phi Brain is still a little cloudy but we get the hint that puzzles are atleast some sort of craze in the school Kaito attends. Everyone considers themselves a puzzle master, even in a refreshing break form the norm, the Puzzle club actually has a lot of members. A lesser story-teller would play it as their club is on it’s last legs and puzzles aren’t quite what they use to be. But that pitfall is avoided completely here.
We soon discover that Kaito is considered as somewhat of an enigma at his school, both in his ability to escape any real punishment from the Principal (Suspended for 10 Minutes for putting about 50 school desks out on the School Oval?) and his impeccable aptitude for solving puzzles. I personally found his character very interesting, because he is simply a fresh character. I tried to find something about him that I’ve seen a thousand times before but I couldn’t. He is a bonafide unique character and I simply enjoy watching how his brain works.
Speaking of the brain, this series is named after the Phi complex of the brain. Which is interesting when you take into account what the Phi complex is for. It is a brain rhythm associated with social interaction. I find that very interesting as Kaito seems very adamant about being a loner of sorts. Make of that what you will.
The episode winds up with Kaito being drawn back to the labyrinth puzzle from the beginning of the episode, after recieving an invitation from the mysterious Minotaur. It does warrant a mention that the school Principal and Student Council Chairman, both seem to have some sort of understanding as to who Minotaur is, but that is something that will be tackled in future episodes I imagine. All of this leads to a great moment in which Kaito solves his most difficult puzzle yet after unlocking the Orpheous Contract. It’s still a mystery what this contract is but like the agend of the Principal and Student Council Chairman, will likely be dealt with in the upcoming weeks.
The soundtrack here is equally as engaging as the characters and story. The opening theme was a stroke of genius and matches the series perfectly. The ending wasn’t as good, but was still good enough for me to like it. But the real masterpiece here is the incidental music, I wanted to jump out of my seat when the music started playing as Kaito finally states “Puzzle solved” at the conclusion of the episode.
As for the animation and art, it’s really good. The character designs are incredibly unique, as is the art style itself. There was a lot of impressive sakuga animation segments, that really gave a taste of what Sunrise have in store for us with this series.
All-in-all, I left Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle blown away by it’s execution of concept and huge potential i has as the series continues on. I know I’ll be tuning in again next week to see how Kaito can solve the puzzle seen in the next episode preview. It’s an excitement I felt with Steins;Gate, waiting to see how the show will stack mystery upon mystery and then topple them all over in one fell swoop. I’m nothing if not pumped for the next episode of Phi Brain. It may not be there yet but I can see this becoming one of the best of season.
Square Enix has a bit of a surprise for you, and that is the fact the game will have some pre-order content bonuses much like other titles! But this content is a bit lopsided in my opinion, because while some of the content is simple DLC, one company happens to run away with the prize in this little pre-order bonus competition.
If you are to pre-order the game from Amazon, you will receive the Omega Boss Battle as downloadable content wherein after completion, the Omega boss will join the player’s party, while those who pre-order from Gamestop will obtain a code for an alternative costume for Serah to wear. Now for the big one, Best Buy pre-orders will net purchasers a hardcover copy of Final Fantasy XIII – Episode i –, a novella that is going to connect the events that occur between FFXIII and FFXIII-2. Seems like Best Buy is the place to put your money for pre-ordering Final Fantasy XIII-2 before it releases on January 31st, 2012.
Sony has revealed the final box art for the PlayStation Vita which you can see above. The box seems rather nice looking, but of course is only an obstruction that has to be passed to obtain the system inside. While this may be Europe’s final box art, there is always a chance that the North American version will differ slightly.
Besides the box art, Sony Europe detailed what we will be seeing on the launch screen when we first turn on the system. There will be the Welcome Park, Party, Group Messaging, Photos, Near, Trophies, Music, Friends, Internet Browser and of course the PlayStation Store. So what do you think of the package? Looks a bit like something a fancy phone would come in to me.
Ruh Roh. It seems that Mass Effect 3 may indeed have a multiplayer aspect thrown into it by EA and BioWare. Originally the title would not have an online mode, then it would and the company’s stance has flip flopped drastically over the last few months. But it seems that confusion is all for naught as a pamphlet from South African retailer BT Games has made its way online and on it, there is an advertisement for a Collectors Edition of Mass Effect 3 which includes an Online Multiplayer Pass.
The flier was scanned and posted on the BioWare forum and caused widespread speculation. Currently EA hasn’t released a statement about the flier, but c’mon… its EA. They’ll throw an online pass in anything nowadays. Check the pamphlet out below.
Beginning tomorrow Sony will be launching a new promotion involving the PlayStation Network. This promotion will see a new PSN exclusive title show up every Tuesday during the month of October. This includes tomorrow’s release of Euphoria and Rochard and then following weekly releases of titles. If all of these titles happen to catch your eye, then Sony has a nice bonus for you. If you spend $60 on PSN games during this month you will receive a free $10 PSN credit in November.
To top that of, the PlayStation Network will soon play host to a number of third party titles from the PlayStation 2 era. This includes niche games like Odin Sphere, GrimGrimoire, Ring of Red, God Hand and Maximo: Ghosts to Glory. Currently there is no information about whether these games will see trophies or be similar to the PS1 digital releases.
Centipede: Infestation offers more than a single player arcade shooter. Throw a Wii Remote at your friend, and play together on a co-op campaign. The screens below remind me of a time back when Smash TV was a big hit on the Super Nintendo. Showing the same feel of decimation, having an extra player could make this game even more intense.
Attaining power-ups should increase competition between co-op players. While the screenshots do not show any scores for player progress, I think this could be a pro-active competition. Attaining higher scores could result in better weapons or power-ups for each player.
Should be interesting to see how WayForward Technologies will make this title remembered. Check out more information about Centipede: Infestation before its October 25 release (HERE).
Get ready for the ride of your life. Taito’s iOS rhythm based title, Groove Coaster as been updated with some brand new tracks. While the game already features incredible graphics that respond to players touch, creating a rich visualisation to accompany tracks, Taito have now extended their game to include a three new songs.
Two of the latest tracks, Protocol Signal Generation and Just No Friend, will be made free to all when the game is updated. However a third track, Hello 31337, will be available via In-App purchase for only $0.99. While we can’t showcase any of the actual audio here on the site, take a look at the screen shots for each new level to get an idea of the amazing graphics that are in store upon updating.
Protocol Signal Generation Just No Friend Hallo 31337
If new tracks weren’t enough, Taito have upgraded a number of existing songs at no extra cost. Three tracks have been replaced with their iTunes album vocal mixes, giving them a brand new sound. The updated songs include, Play Merrily, Not Get Wish and Breach of Faith. Each of these tracks, not to mention any of track featured on Groove Coaster are magnificently composed, and make for one of the best rhythm games available at the App Store. If you haven’t purchased Groove Coaster yet, I suggest doing so by clicking here. At only $2.99, it’s a small price to pay for the amount of entertainment you’ll gain from this game.
While Groove Coaster is available for both iPad and iPhone, you may also like to purchase the soundtrack to listen to on its own. Sadly for us in Australia, it’s only available on the US iTunes. You can purchase it here for $9.99.
FIFA 12 has blown past Gears of War 3, soaring to the number one spot on the UK sales charts. What’s even more incredible is that it has become the third biggest launch title of all time in the UK, succeeded only by Black Ops and Modern Warfare 2, and taking the third spot away from GTA IV.
Overall, FIFA 12 increased launch sales by an impressive 18% over FIFA 11. Unsurprisingly, it was the 360 and PS3 versions that accumulated the biggest share of sales, with the 360 doubling it’s FIFA 11 sales and actually beating the PS3 by 10%. The other formats (PC, PS2, Wii, PSP, iOS, Mac, 3DS) collectively accounted for only 2%.
As popular as the FIFA series has been, it’s still quite a feat for the title to achieve such success, really setting the bar up high for sports games and definitely showing the PES series who’s boss once again.
