When Final Fantasy X HD was announced for the Playstation 3 and Playstation Vita at Sony’s Pre-TGS Conference, many expected a straight HD upgrade of the game with added trophies, just like the recent collections. However, rumours have been circulating that the game will not be the average port. Instead, the game will be a full remake.
The game will be built on the Crystal Engine, the same engine behind Final Fantasy XIII, with the characters, aeons and stage elements being built from scratch. There will be additional help from the next generation Luminous Engine for lighting and magic. This is the same engine that will be used for Final Fantasy Versus XIII for the same purposes. The engine will also be adapted for the Playstation Vita, meaning that it could look as good as the console counterpart. A Final Fantasy XIII filter will handle the cutscenes.
In terms of gameplay, the core mechanics will be retained. However, Blitzball will be getting minor changes. There is also rumours of online capabilities. There are a few uses for online in this game, including Blitzball. Even a release period has been floating around, rumoured to be in the 2012 fiscal year for Japan (March 2012 – February 2013).
Not too long ago, Nintendo promised that both Metroid II and Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins would both be gracing the 3DS’ Virtual Console sometime in 2011. Making good on that, it now appears that one of those titles will be coming to the service as soon as next week.
On September 29th, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins will release on the eShop in Europe, right alongside the FREE The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition that was announced earlier this year. Yes, things are looking up for the eShop now and hopefully these quality releases will keep this momentum going throughout the holiday season. I would expect Metroid II to follow suit very soon, but for now it looks like both Mario and Zelda fans will have something to cheer about in a matter of days.
Lonesome Road DLC Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Developer: Obsidian Entertainment Platforms: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PC, PlayStation 3 Release Date: September 20, 2011 Price: 800 MSP or $10 – Purchase Here!
Overview:
When Fallout: New Vegas was released last year, we all knew that there would be DLC released for it in the future. One piece arrived shortly after but then began a long drought of content for the title which was quickly remedied over the past few months as subsequent packages were released relatively back to back.
Now after suffering a few delays the final piece of downloadable content for Fallout: New Vegas is here.
There are many roads that one will travel down in the Mojave wasteland, but the road to your past is one that is a lonesome road. Thus we travel down the Lonesome Road DLC one last time, will we find a wasteland full of destruction and excitement or a barren land of disinterest?
Story:
As with all pieces of content released for Fallout: New Vegas, Lonesome Road takes place in an area completely separate from the Mojave Wasteland. The courier will receive a message on his pip-boy from Courier Six to travel to the Divide, a wasteland where no sane person ventures. As with other content, you will be unable to take any companions with you, after all what why would a road be lonesome if you brought friends along?
Courier Six, Ulysses, entices the player to travel to the divide with answers to many questions brought up in the main story. Past DLC has made many references to a man wearing an old world flag upon his back and it was even said that another courier, Courier Six was meant to deliver the Platinum Chip first. In the Divide he will answer not only why he refused the job, but also reveal his origins, the player character’s origins, as well as why he is seeking you out but most importantly about his plans for the Mojave and the world.
This road may not be as lonesome as first thought however as along the way you will encounter an interesting companion which some may be familiar with. The player finds an Eyebot which is quickly named ED-E similar to the one from the Mojave wastes. This ED-E is different from the other however, as it will occasionally play audio logs from his past during different parts of the story. The player can of course choose to respond to these however they wish but the logs played can easily make a player feel sorry for the robot and everything that he has been through from creation to ending up in the Divide, all culminating in a decision that may be quite difficult.
Something extremely interesting here is the fact that a lot of the conversations you have with Ulysses will change depending on your alliances. If you are helping out the NCR then his conversations will have to do with the two headed bear and make many references to their power and lack of control. This will change if you have been siding with Caesar’s Legion and perhaps even if you side with Mr. House making replayability quite applicable.
The many revelations about the Courier’s past are more than worth playing through the story at least once. Sure a lot of the information may be a bit confusing at first but ultimately ends up being explained more in-depth, especially if the player has the stats to find out more. Most will walk away very satisfied with what they learned in the Divide, but to figure it out yourself you must take that lonesome road.
Graphics:
Similar to past DLC, Lonesome Road has a theme about it. Unfortunately the theme is complete destruction so there isn’t going to be a whole lot of eye-popping new graphical content besides a lot of recycled destruction. Still there is plenty of new destruction to see, buildings torn apart, warheads strewn across the Divide and just complete destruction in a land that no human should travel.
But there is still life. While there aren’t a whole lot of enemies you will face off against, there are two new types which have a new design. There are tunnelers which look very interesting and seem to be humanoid creatures that crawl on all fours and have luminescent points on their body.
Let us not forget the bloody Marked Men who have the features of ghouls but are simply men who have had the skin stripped from their body due to the harsh conditions of the wastes. These men may bear many resemblances to NCR and Legion forces and there is a very good reason for that. These two enemy additions are well detailed and players should be content with facing down many of these on their ventures through the Divide.
Audio:
There unfortunately aren’t a whole lot of new characters added in this downloadable content. Players will hear various recordings from ED-E but none of these are very lasting nor leave any impression, though the brief music ED-E plays when combat begins is a nice touch. Still there is one character added, and Ulysses’ voice actor is quite amazing. His grainy voice matches his tone perfectly, especially when his plans are revealed and you come face to face with him.
Gameplay:
The game still plays like usual so there are no new elements thrown in to change up a player’s playstyle. However there are a few new weapons included which may be worth a second look. The supposed “signature weapon” of the Divide is a mini rocket launcher named “Red Glare” which can be upgraded and is a machine rocket launcher that is not only devastating to opponents but fun to use. Besides this there are a number of other unique weapons such as a Flare Gun or Flashbang which serve purposes against certain enemies of the Divide and are fun to use in their own right.
It is a good thing that new weapons are introduced because the Divide is a harsh place to travel not only because it is a completely decimated wasteland but also because of the sheer amount of adversity you will face as you travel. The Lonesome Road, perhaps because it is the last piece of content, is the hardest of all the other DLC packages with the game warning players to be at least level 25 before venturing in.
However even at level 44 entering (Level cap increased by 5 again to a total of 50 with all DLC), there are going to be many times you will face down near certain death and of course quite literal death. The Marked Men are rarely ever alone and usually are discovered in groups of four or more making the ensuing fire fight quite intense. But the creatures are your true enemies, Tunnelers are quite strong and deal a lot of damage but the true enemy here is not a new one, but an old enemy. If you have never run across a Deathclaw in the Mojave you are certainly lucky. However you will be facing down quite a lot of them in the Divide occasionally even in pairs which makes each step a treacherous one as you never know what you will encounter next.
There are a number of collectibles which can be found and there achievements/trophies for discovering all of them. Warheads are scattered across the wastes and while some are required to be blown up for advancement, there are others scattered a bit off the beaten path. Plus you may also stumble upon upgrades for ED-E which also carry over to the ED-E in the Mojave.
Unfortunately despite the few collectibles that can be found, there really isn’t a whole lot of gameplay difference to make a player really want to come back through the Lonesome Road. Many of the collectibles can be found without going off the main path and there isn’t a whole lot of exploration provided. In fact many of the paths you travel will be quite limited to going down a mostly strict path with a few pieces to explore on the sides, making the story the only reason to really come back to the Divide once you find the collectibles.
Overall:
The Lonesome Road is a fine piece to bring a closure to the story of the courier. There are many questions that can be raised as to where the Courier came from and his past, and most of these questions are put to rest in the storyline. Of course there are also more questions raised and some of the explanations may cause a bit of confusion.
Also, the Lonesome Road’s lack of actual gameplay replayability is detrimental, as many may wish to do so when they are following a different faction to hear the changed dialogue. Still that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot to do your first time around as the content can last nearly seven hours with exploration and battling enemies. Lonesome Road does a great job wrapping up many of the loose ends left by other content and should satisfy many on their final road through New Vegas.
Modern Warfare 3 is now just around 5 weeks from release, but EB Games have taken to their Facebook page to hype the upcoming blockbuster even more. EB Games Australia posted the picture you see above today along with the comment:
Deafening, blaring, booming, ear-splitting Modern Warfare 3 announcement coming this Wednesday! Keep your ears open for this one..
Now obviously, what you see above is a custom made amp featuring the art from the latest Call of Duty, which also includes an iPod/iPhone dock at the top. It is a bit of a bizarre accessory, but this could very well be the big “prestige” item that fans have been hoping for. This could also just be signifying that a digital soundtrack might be given as a pre-order bonus as well, so there is still plenty of room for speculation.
Either way, stay tuned and once the big reveal is made, we will be sure to bring you an update.
So what do you think this announcement would be? Are you impressed by the amp? Leave a comment below to tell us your thoughts.
I definitely consider myself a gamer. My PC, Wii, Xbox 360, iPhone and DS all get regular love, I keep up to date on all the news, I even write for a games website! But I have a secret to confess, one that always damages my gamer cred.
Forgive me father, for I have sinned: I’ve never really played a Legend of Zelda game. Ever. I’ve tried them, and thought “I should get into this”, but never have.
I’m sorry. My penance will include a playthrough of Ocarina of Time 3D and on its release, the new Wii title, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
Having played a bit of this upcoming adventure at a preview event at Nintendo, I can safely say that, from a noob perspective, it’s definitely shaping up to be something special.
Skyward Sword is the first Zelda game specifically made for the Wii, and it shows in the interesting use of motion controls. Twilight Princess started life on the GameCube, and was promoted to Wii launch title during development, and as such, its motion controls weren’t as refined as what Skyward Sword offers. Link’s new adventure has had six years of Wii progress before it, as well as the advantage provided by the MotionPlus remotes that it relies on, so creative use of motion is pretty much essential.
And it is put to good use here: shake the Wii remote to unsheath your sword, and it will follow your movements almost exactly. So rather than simply wobbling the remote to play one canned sword-swing animation, its swing will closely follow the motion you make with the Wii remote, and the developers have incorporated precise sword play into the game quite well. For example, there’s a particular spider enemy that requires specific motions to defeat. The most effective method is to flick upwards from close range to lift it upwards and off-balance, then perform a quick forward jab into its vulnerable underside.
Hold the remote upright for a short time, and Link’s sword will start glowing. A flick forwards will then send off a wave of energy, damaging multiple enemies in front of you – provided you can find the time to charge it up. The boss fight I got to sample also demonstrates some potential for the much-dismissed MotionPlus accessory. It’s some skeleton thing with a sword and shield, but each time he comes at you, he holds them in a different defensive position. You can’t just spam attacks at him; victory requires timing and precise swings to angle your sword slashes between his defenses. This is the kind of thing that makes motion control earn its keep. The Wii needed more games that utilized it to this level, rather than using vague remote shakes to trigger basic attacks, as though it was simply another button.
A sword is all well and good, but you need an arsenal of other weapons too, and these also use motion effectively. The bow and arrow feel quite intuitive; aim in first person, then hold C and draw the nunchuk back, and release the C button to fire. It’s tactile and satisfying, although the automatic switch to first person to aim can be a little clumsy with multiple enemies closing in. You also have access to some weird, metal, apparently-remote-controlled, flying beetle contraption, with which you can collect hidden goodies or hit out-of-reach switches. Flying this thing requires holding the Wii remote out straight, and tilting it to steer left or right, up or down.
Gameplay wise, Skyward Sword looks like the standard Zelda series fare, which is (from what I understand) a huge compliment. I only got to play a small section of the game, including the boss fight described above, a large dungeon area and a strangely out-of-place bird riding level.
The dungeon is where the game feels most like a Zelda title. You wander around, fighting things, solving puzzles and trying to find the next path. I’m not sure how linear they usually are, but Skyward Sword looks like it offers the choice of several paths at once. Solving puzzles can open new paths or bonus rooms full of loot, and with the intriguing use of motion-controlled combat, and exploration aplenty, this looks like a worthy addition to the series.
The bird riding level plays ok, but feels out of place and somewhat pointless. They involve flying a giant bird around a clear patch of sky, racing against others to chase down another bird in some weird sport. In principle, it works fairly well, but in play, it’s not very interesting for very long. It amounts to steering your bird around by tilting the remote, and occasionally shaking the nunchuk to gain some extra height. But there are few landmarks to be seen, it’s difficult to judge the speed and distance of your target, and the basic gameplay gets tired quite quickly. Unless this demo was just a very basic version of the kind of levels we can expect later in the game, with more involved gameplay and more interesting arenas, this is a fairly arbitrary addition to a game that’s strong enough on its own terms.
That small negative aside, the game looks amazing, and if a Zelda virgin like myself can get so excited for this game, I can only imagine the anticipation of the series’ fans. This game will be the perfect way for fans to celebrate a quarter of a century of dungeon crawling with Link, and likely send off the Wii on a high note.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will be playable during the Nintendo Connection Tour, and will be released on November 18 in Europe, and November 20 in the US and Australia.
Although Square Enix promised downloadable content for the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII-2, all of the specifics are hiding at Square Enix HQ, which is no surprise. However, there is one piece of pre-order DLC heading to Japan at least. It’s only available from HMV and Lawsons if you want it. So, what is it?
A new weapon of Serah, the sister of Lightning. Well… its a code. But this isn’t any ordinary weapon. The weapon is the ‘Angel’s Bow and Arrow’, which will convert damage to enemies into HP for Serah. I’ll liken it to the blood weapons that have appeared throughout the series. There are no images of the weapon at the moment, but Square Enix has reassured that they will release an image in a future update (the picture above is not the bow).
Gameloft, notorious gaming developer of highly derivative games, are bringing their key franchises into the upcoming Sony Tablet device. The franchises that will be brought to the tablet are contain titles such as: Asphalt 6: Adrenaline HD, N.O.V.A. 2 – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance HD, Real Soccer 2011 HD, Spider-Man: Total Mayhem HD, and Green Farm HD.
On the tablet the Vice President of Publishing had this to say –
“The convergence of high performance, a stunning display, and the focus on a networked device provided by “Sony Tablet” devices perfectly complements Gameloft’s high quality games and online multiplayer functionality,” said Gonzague de Vallois, Senior Vice President Publishing, Gameloft. “The high impact of the “Sony Tablet S’s” large display along with the unique dual screen configuration of the “Sony Tablet P” truly enhances the overall entertainment value of the gaming experience.”
The following statement was issued by the Product Planning manager at Sony –
“We are extremely pleased to offer our customers access to Gameloft’s exciting entertainment contents through “Sony Tablet”” said Makoto Ishii, General Manager, Product Planning Dept. No.2, Business Planning and Strategy Div., VAIO & Mobile Business Group Sony Corporation. “I’m convinced they will enrich the user experience of our upcoming tablets.”
Fans of both Sony and Gameloft are sure to excited with this announcement.
ANNO 2070, a futuristic edition of the ANNO series of games has a new trailer released. In this trailer, the futuristic world of the game is showcased, as well as the incredibly intuitive looking interface and other exciting pieces of gameplay. Gameplay, such as how each of the factions operate and collect resources. The video mentions that this is a tutorial, whether this is directly taken from the game or not is something you’ll have to find out by watching the video and playing the game.
In ANNO 2070, the world is a near futuristic version of its current self, but has been enveloped by climate change. The climate has changed in this world, causing sea levels to rise and rendering certain sections of land, that were once hospitable, unhospitable.
Fans of the previous ANNO series are going to love this title; I mean, I’m not a fan, but I’m kind of looking forward to it myself! So make sure to check out the Official Website for more information.
In the new developer’s diary for Dungeon Defenders, the Trendy Entertainment team discusses the importance of the “build phase”. During this phase, you will be able to create strategic defeneses to protect your base’s crystals. The diary explains several available options that can be utilized during this time.
An interesting aspect that is expressed in the video is that you can create, change, or build up your characters on the fly. Being able to switch between characters could bring a whole new level of difficulty into play. While your opponents may expect a mage for the next defense, you could switch to a die-hard fighter.
Enjoy the developer’s diary below and stay tuned for Dungeon Defender‘s upcoming release on October 19th for Xbox Live Arcade and PC. (PSN release will follow shortly after)
Developer: Kontrolfreek
Platform:: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3
Release Date: Football Freek 27th of September 2011 and Speed Freek APEX 4th of October
If you’re wondering what these things are, click here for a more lengthy detailing. I will start first by giving my impressions of the Football Freek for FIFA 12 and then the Speed Freek APEX designed for Forza Motorsport 4.
Kontrolfreek’s Football Freek aim is to enhance the gaming experience of FIFA 12 and other football titles, and although I was expecting a bit more out of it, they still are quite reasonable accessories. Apparently the attachments are specifically designed to allow players more subtle and accurate movements with their players, especially applicable to FIFA 12’s new precision dribbling system.
Upon first attaching the accessories to my thumbsticks, the controller feels a bit uncomfortable as the sticks are now higher up. After a while though I stated getting used to the feel and actually prefer it now. As for the actual impact that the Football Freek actually has on gameplay, I’m not going to exaggerate, it’s quite subtle, but if you use them long enough and then go back to the bare controller, you will see a fair bit of difference.
Maybe it’s just a placebo effect but it still does feel like I can make those slight turns out of dangerous situations and hang on to the ball much easier then when doing the same move without it. I was hoping that the stick’s convex surface would have higher sensitivity levels, so much so that a slight rub would allow you to turn your player, but I suppose with that sort of sensitivity you would end up with a lot of unwanted turning.
As for the Speed Freek, I found it actually much more useful. Although advertised for Forza Motorsport, the accessory can still be used for basically all other racing games. Me, I used it for F1 2011 (which FYI review will be up very soon). As you can see in the picture below, the APEX allows your thumb double the space for moving left and right, and with it’s dish like shape it really benefits the really sharp turning.
If you’re planning on buying any racing game and want a cheap alternative to a full racing-wheel controller, then I really recommend the Speed Freek for just that extra bit of control and controller comfort.
Overall, the the two accessories are quite useful and most importantly cheap add-ons which although only adding subtle improvements to gameplay, are still a worthwhile purchase. They add that extra bit of control and I actually found them quite comfortable to use them when playing other games. They are tournament-legal, so there are no limitations with using them, and you can’t forget the fact that they will only set you back about 10 bucks so I say why the hell not?
