Would you like to dive into the future? If you want to, then you will have to first master spinning flips that start from a standing position. We are sorry, but thems the rules. After all, the guy in the trailer below mastered them and managed to dive right into a crazy amazing world full of awesome fighting and great graphics. So you should be able to as well. In the meantime though I guess you will just to have to content yourself with watching videos of the future. While your watching, do you mind if we practice our jumping skills? If appears we may need them.
Phantasy Star Online 2 is an upcoming game in the Phantasy Star series published by Sega. It is set to release on PC sometime this year. If you visit the Youtube npage of the video below you can find some links to the media briefings.
When the lead character from The World Ends With You Neku showed up in a trailer during Tokyo Game Show for Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance last week, the internet went crazy with rumors about a possible sequel or at least some acknowledgment for the title which was more or less released and forgotten by Square Enix.
It seems that the world may not just end with one title however, because Square Enix’s Tetsuya Nomura spoke with Famitsu in an interview. In this interview according to Andrisasang, Famitsu asked whether or not fans should expect a sequel to the popular DS title. In response to the question Nomura said that Neku’s appearance should be taken as notice of something to come and even added that something is indeed being worked on. While this isn’t really a confirmation, this certainly sounds like promising information.
During TGS 2011 last weekend, there was a new trailer for Army Corps of Hell. Featuring harder than hard rock, legions of troops, creepy characters and blaring text, it would seem that this game has all the right elements to be a winner. On the other hand, if you have babies, kids, grandparents, mothers, puppies, kittens, tigers, or other people, animals or things in the room with you when you want to watch this trailer, you may may want to wait until you are alone. The screaming, torn limbs and blood may, uh, offend others. Also, don’t eat or drink anything while watching. Ok, so you are all prepared now? Watch away.
There was a lot of buzz when it was revealed that a relatively new Tales game is being developed for the PlayStation Vita. I say relatively new because Tales of Innocence R is a remake of the DS title called nearly the same thing. But this game will have a number of new features, including a brand new character named Kyu Kyu.
Kyu Kyu will be from another world and says she is an archaeologist reports Famitsu in a preview of the game. SHe doesn’t speak the language of the other characters very well however. You can see her full character artwork below. Besides the new character however the game will include touch controls that allow the player to touch a character icon on the lower part of the screen and choose to use a skill that you can preset outside of battle.
If you are a fan of THQ’s annual wrestling franchsie with WWE then you should know that the game already has relatively extensive character creation. You’ve always been able to create your very own superstar, your own entrance and your own moveset. The customization has grown more extensive over the years but there was one thing you have never been able to do.
That is create your very own arena and wrestling ring. WWE’12 will allow players to not only make their character everything they think a perfect wrestler should be, but also put them in the spotlight of their very own event if they feel like it. You can catch all of the customization options below and fantasize about how awesome or strange your creation will look like when the game is released.
Rhythm games have always been rather popular on gaming handhelds. Unfortunately the Nintendo 3DS seems to be lacking many rhythm based titles at the moment. However we now have two rhythm games announced for the 3DS handheld and one of those comes from our good friends Sega with Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure.
There was only a minimal amount of information revealed in the past about the title, but it seems that this trailer released earlier today in Japanese is looking to clear up any confusion about what the game will contain. There is plenty of gameplay footage where the main character dances his way out of trouble and through situations as well as a l of animated cutscenes which I must say look quite beautiful. Catch the trailer below.
From September 23 to October 3, Microsoft will be advertising Gears of War 3 in a new way. “Live” TV ads will air in the UK, displaying the current number of people playing online. We assume that in addition to a box displaying that number, there will be some other stuff going on in the background. Because other wise that would be the worst commercial ever.
These ‘live’ TV ads will have 6 variations. According to the Microsoft UK Xbox marketing director, Stephen McGill, Gears 3 Marketing “Is on the scale of what we did for Halo Reach and Halo 3 — television is the main centrepiece of the campaign.”
Gears of War 3 launched worldwide today. Have you played it yet? How do you like it?
There are always people who wnd up getting a game ahead of time. Sure there are people who get them through legitimate means such as reviewers, but there are also those who get them either through retailers breaking street dates or back deals with friends that work for those companies. Well From Software, developer of Dark Souls has a special treat for these people reports Edge.
Anyone who plays the game before its September 22nd release date in Japan will encounter max level enemies named Black Phantoms which have maxed stats and will literally destroy the player in an instant. There is no word whether or not this will be done for the North American releas as well, but it certainly would be hilarious. Plus it would make things quite difficult for any reviewer who manages to get the title.
Game Name: Rock Of Ages
Platform(s): XBLA (reviewed), PSN, PC
Publisher(s): ATLUS
Developer(s): Ace Team
Genre(s): Action / Strategy
Release Date: 31st August (XBLA, PSN) , September 7th PC
Price: $800 MS Points BUY NOW!
Rock of Ages is Ace Team’s second game, and was released for Xbox 360 and Windows PC on August 31st, 2011. In it, you control a rock. You roll it down a hill. But this game combines a number of genres and mechanics to give a pretty unique experience. The question is: does it all come together?
The two main ideas in this game is rolling a rock down a hill to smash down the door of your opponent, while also setting up traps and obstacles his ball has to navigate through… all in the hopes of breaking through first, and squishing him.
Let’s have a look at the obstacle placing phase first. This art resembles a tower defense game. you pan around the map, selecting a tower, elephant, or other contraption, and placing it on one of the light squares. Placing a tower will dark out some squares, meaning you cannot replace it if it gets busted up by your opponent smashing through it.
You quickly figure out that if you put more obstacles near the end, he won’t have so much momentum when he gets to your door, and so will do less damage to it… whereas if you dot them throughout the level, he will get to your door slower in general, giving you the edge, time-wise.
The controls are pretty simple. Move the cursor with the left stick, place a tower by pressing A, select your tower using RT. But the cursor is a little tricky to use. First of all, it moves quite slowly. If you want to put some stuff at the beginning and end of a level, or even hurl projectiles at your enemy’s rock as it tumbles down the hill, you’ll find yourself waiting a little too long to get where you want to go.
Also, there’s no easy way of putting down a line of obstacles. As the d-pad moves the camera between the beginning and end of the level instantly (a useful addition, considering the slow camera), you have to rely on your delicate handling of the thumb-stick to get to adjacent squares, and you’ll often be putting down obstacles with clear gaps for the opposition’s rock to glide through.
The obstacles are varied enough, and do let you come up with some interesting set-ups to ensnare your opponent. As the levels progress, more items unlock, as well as upgraded versions of things you already have that you can place for a little extra money, which you accrue over the course of a “roll” by smashing into buildings and such.
Which brings us to the ball-rolling itself. The ball is a pretty hefty lump of rock, and this is reflected in the controls. It takes a little while to get up to speed, and is almost impossible to stop without a good bit of notice. While this is okay for the earlier, simpler levels, once you get onto levels with hairpin turns and gaps on the world you have to jump across, you’ll be wishing for a smaller, lighter rock to play with. And once the catapults unlock, and more set-piece areas appear in the levels, it can get amazingly frustrating to even get to the end of a level.
You’ll often be rolling along quite nicely, when all of a sudden (and a little physics-defyingly perhaps), your rock will fly across the screen from a catapulted rock or gust of wind. The reason this is so frustrating is that there’s nothing you can do whatsoever. There’s no “ooh— I can just about make it if I purse my lips and scrunch up my eyes”… you’re just out of it. Thankfully, the ball’s comical cry of “aaah” gets you through it the first few times you fall to your death-slash-reset-to-where-you-fell-off, but after a while it almost feels like the rock is mocking you. Like if it continued it’s scream, it would end up in a “aaaaahhhh-aha-ahahahahaa-ahaaaahaaahahahhhahhhaaaa!! [evil glare]”.
There are boss battles, too; each with their own particular mechanic you need to figure out and employ to beat each boss. But until you do figure it out, be prepared to get blasted off the side of the world. Once you figure out the trick, however, these levels don’t tend to be too taxing to complete. it almost feels like they are rewards for making it through the levels preceding the boss; focusing on showing you an awesome/comical boss to fight, before falling back into the pain and frustration of the level-grind.
So, while the game itself can get frustrating at times, the art style and execution is very, very polished. At the start of each level, a cutscene unfolds introducing the next opponent in an often-amusing, sometimes-baffling, and on-rare-occasions-hilarious ditties. The animation style is reminiscent of Monty Python’s Flying Circus’s animations (as in Terry Gilliam’s animations), and the humour draws on pop culture and film references, pleasing any self-respecting video-game/film nut.
The art style throughout is a quirky mixture of historical and cartoon, but at all times, very , very polished. Ever wondered what a baby’s head with angel wings looked like? Well this game has the perfect boss battle for you.
There are even faces and such carved into each rock, which you can then select in the menu for multiplayer and other modes, which add a nice, subtle arty touch to the gameplay. You can hardly see the designs as your rock whizzes around, but it’s nice to know they’re there…
There is also a Skeeball mode, where you roll down the levels, bashing into targets which award you with points, ending in a board with a few holes that multiply your score. And a multiplayer mode, including Local, which is a bit of a dying breed nowadays, and a very a welcome feature.
All in all, I had fun with this game in the beginning, but as the levels get harder, the more frustrating elements began to become more and more apparent. A great sense of humour and quirky score keep things rolling for a while, but in the end frustration may win out over novelty.
All right, we know that the upcoming Orcs Must Die video game looks pretty neat. But now, we have evidence to back it up. In this interactive trailer for the game, Robot Entertainment allows us (and you) to play the game without actually playing the game. And it is pretty awesome. The video features 30 possible choices, letting you choose the traps and witness firsthand the results of your actions. Check it out below. If have not fainted by the sheer amazingness of it all by the end, be sure to leave a comment letting us know how big the explosion in your head was. Unless of course, you know, your dead.
