While Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary may be a HD remake of the original Halo title, there is going to be a Halo 2 map in the multiplayer section of the game. Anyone who spent a decent amount of time online in Halo 2 should know roughly what the Headlong map looks like. Well if you do then you should find the map above a little bit familiar because that map is being remade and re-titled.
Now called the Breakneck map, 343 Industries has made some minor layout changes and extensive graphical upgrades to the level. There is now turret and cover panels up where the teleporter in Blue Base was and the Red base has lost a bit of ceiling and an Engineering Hallway extended. If these changes don’t mean much to you don’t worry, just enjoy the new multiplayer levels!
With the final piece of DLC for Fallout: New Vegas being released next week, Bethesda has released quite an enticing trailer for the content. The Lonesome Road DLC trailer released today can be seen below and I must say, the voice of Ulysses, the man who initially turned down the job of delivering the Platinum Chip which inevitably set the Courier down the path to save, destroy or control the Mojave Wasteland.
Ulysses calls for the Courier to travel to the Divide where he will answer his questions and see the world that he lives in laid bare. No matter how many guns you bring, or friends you may have made in the wastes, the last road must be traveled alone. The Lonesome Road DLC will be available next week on September 20th for 800 MSP or $9.99 on the Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3.
It seems that the game which was once known as PixelJunk Lifelike is now going to be called PixelJunk 4AM. The change in the name is supposedly due tot he feeling that one gets around 4AM. Because whenever you are in a club, the music drifts from reality, and outside of clubs 4AM feels like the night is almost over and dawn is rising.
While this sounds a bit strange, well it is. But the PlayStation Move certainly needs some new and interesting things and PixelJunk 4AM seems like that will be exactly that. Players will be able to stream their own music live onto the PlayStation Network so they can broadcast their own online performances. Expect to see a lot of bad rave dancing and music. Either way check out the trailer below which was released for the game for Tokyo Game Show.
As promised in past announcements, Rockstar Games has released the first trailer for Max Payne 3. As one would expect with Rockstar, the trailer looks absolutely amazing, especially if you consider that roughly everything shown below was taken from in-game footage.
Max has moved to Brazil in an effort to escape from his traumatic past and he is working as private security for a family in São Paulo, Brazil. When a violent and ruthless gang target the family he is meant to protect, Max must leave his old life behind, apparently shave his head and take them on. MOre information will be coming in the next few months as Max Payne 3 is currently set to be released in March of 2012 on the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms.
As mentioned in our previous article / trailer for Ninja Gaiden entitled “Consequence” Team Ninja’s Yosuke Hayashi and his Team Ninja crew provided everyone at the Team Ninja Unmask Pre-Event with a gameplay presenation to an updated build of Ninja Gaiden 3 that we got to play at this years E3 (read article here).
Hiyashi-san explained there are now 3 modes available in the game. Hero (EASY MODE) this pretty much does all the hard work for you such as auto evading and auto guarding and making your life a whole lot easier when taking down enemies. This mode is best used if you want to experience the Ryu’s Story without having to throw your controller up against the wall.
Then there’s Normal mode, which I’d suggest everyone start off on as its not that hard and will give you a good run for your money. But if you think you have what it takes to be a hardcore Ninja you can jump right in and try everyone’s favourite HARD mode entitled “Ninja” play style – The two videos below show both HARD and NORMAL mode. Now the bear in mind the Team Ninja crew were all in attendance tonight and one of them took up the challenge and demo’d HARD MODE for us. Watch and see how hard it is even for a seasoned vetran of the game that probably plays this all day long.
Now after failing twice they switched it to NORMAL mode showing us that Team Ninja have stayed true to the core roots of Ninja Gaiden series making sure that the hardcore fans of the series will get a true high quality and tough gameplay experience if they do decide to play the game on NINJA mode. With the video gameplay shown below you can see the new Consequence feature in the game and also at the end of the demo a red firey dragon power up which wasn’t explained but looked awesome. After the presentation a very brief run down on Online Multiplayer was explained. Giving players the option to play cooperatively or competitively. New challenges, characters and missions await those who choose to join the Shadows on the World online! Players get to take on other Ninja’s and also regular enemies in different modes that would then allow them the honor to take on Ryu Hayabusa himself. Details were very minimal so expect a whole lot more details in the weeks ahead. For now enjoy both the videos and the screenshots from the game.
The developers behind the recently released generic first person shooter Bodycount have received bad news today. Per UK law, the company and its 66 employees have been informed today about the 30 day consultation shut down period, meaning that Codemasters is going to be shutting down the studio. Bodycount, the game developed by Guildford Studio received very poor ratings across the board and barely placed on sales charts the week of release.
In a statement to Eurogamer, a Codemasters’ spokesperson stated “”As we look to take greater leadership in the racing category, Codemasters is proposing a studio structure that adds resource and strengthens our best-in-class racing teams.” He went on to say that anyone who is being fired at the moment should apply for a position at Codemasters’ Warwickshire HQ which works on games such as Dirt and Grid or the Birmingham Studio that is working on a new racing franchise.
Another TEAM NINJA Unmask trailer was unleashed this evening, this time we have a Worldwide First – Yosuke Hayashi, leader of Team Ninja announced a very early build of DEAD OR ALIVE 5 with an amazing gameplay trailer. Hayashi-san explained that the Team Ninja after the release of Dead or Alive 4 have been thinking about how they can improve this fantastic franchise.
Of course graphics and gameplay were the most obvious, but what Hayashi-san went on to explain is that Dead Or Alive 5 will not only be a fighting game, but a “Fighting Entertainment” game with environments coming to life with players now being able to interact with them and use them to their advantage to gain that upper hand in battles.
Hayashi-San also revealed a new image logo for Dead Or Alive 5 entitled “I’m a Fighter” What is it ? What is the hidden meaning behind it. There is one, can you figure it out. If you can share it with us, leave a comment below
Dead Or Alive will make its way to Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012. Get ready for the ultimate battle.
TEAM NINJA Unmasked a new trailer at a Pre-Tokyo Game Show Event in Tokyo Shibuya today. The new Ninja Gaiden 3 trailer unleashed, entitled ”Consequence” what sort of repercussions would Ryu Hayabusa face if he decides to let go and allow the evil to consume his very soul?
One of the most well known ninjas, Ryu Hayabusa’s name conjures feelings in people the world over. And yet, there is so much that we don’t know about the man behind the mask. Hopefully this trailer below will shed a little more light.
Let us know what you think of the new trailer, leave a comment below.
Vanguard II Developer: SNK Publisher: SNK Platforms: Playstation 3/Playstation Portable (minis) Release Date: Out Now Price: $2.99
Over the past few days, I have been reviewing a couple of 1980’s arcade games developed and published by SNK (now known as SNK Playmore). Now, I have one more to conduct and I am not disappointed with this one. In fact I am quite pleased with this particular title. I am talking about Vanguard II, a space shooter with great gameplay, retro visuals and nostalgic music. Right now, it is available as a Playstation mini, meaning this can be played on the Playstation 3 and Playstation Portable. If you want something to add to that growing retro collection, then this is a must own.
Gameplay
As explained before, this is a space shooter. However, it is not a vertical scrolling space shooter. It has horizontal scrolling and allows you to fly in eight directions. So basically it is quite free-roaming. The objective of the game is to destroy a certain amount of pods (circular structures with a red light in the middle) before going in for the kill. Yes, this is a game about destroying space stations. This is in complete contrast to another game I have reviewed called Alpha Mission, which was released as part of a trilogy of games alongside T.N.K III and this game. Back to the game, you do have a few obstacles in your path. Most of the time they are smaller ships trying to hone on you and move in for the kill.
Don’t expect difficult controls for a game with simple gameplay. Using the directional buttons or the analogue stick will move your spaceship around, but it will be a little awkward when you first play the game. The ship, to put it simply, does not suddenly change direction. Instead, you have to actually have to make a complete turn. Yeah, a little confusing and frustrated somewhat, but it is not a major problem, so I guess I could be doing a little nitpicking. As for the other controls, pressing X will shoot your laser, used for the flying enemies, while pressing O will launch two missiles to destroy the pods, turrets and the central point of the spaceship, similar to Alpha Mission.
Arcade games have a tendency to be a little tough and Vanguard II is no exception. It offers four difficulties: Easy, Normal, Hard and Hardest. Despite the chosen difficulty, there will be times where you will have to put up a tough fight. There will be too many enemies in some instances to outmanoeuvre and too much fire to avoid, especially when you try your hand into destroying the spaceship, as the central point will put up a fight. However, it is not a hindrance to the experience, rather it adds to it, really testing skill and sense of time. Overall, the gameplay, although simple, is rather fun and solid.
Visuals
What can I say about the visuals of the game? Well, they are those that were displayed when the game was released in 1984. Most of the time, you will encounter an abundance of grey (the space station) and brown (the planet below). Yes, there is no black background, common for space shooters, in this game. The spaceship you control is red, so you won’t lose it in the darker shades of the background. The enemies are usually a mid-tone grey. On occasion you will encounter enemies which alternate red and yellow. To be honest, they look like a flying atom. The layout of each level is different. The central point will be located at a different location in the level. Turrets and pods will also change their position somewhat. They are also quite detailed and take on a distinguished look. Overall, the graphics are quite good for a mid-1980’s game.
Music
I shall start off by telling you that, during gameplay, there is no background music. It is similar to the old Atari 2600 days where all one had was the joy of listening to 8-bit sound effects. Of course, these are a joy to listen to… if that is your liking. The sound effects are classic. The shot of a laser reminds me of when an 80’s sci-fi laser or plasma gun but toned down a little. The explosions after the missile hits its target reminds me of a brief period of heavy rain before clearing for a nice sunny day. Other than that, there is nothing else to talk about when it comes to music
Overall
I thoroughly enjoyed playing Vanguard II. The gameplay is simple to grasp but it is well designed and can be fun. The visuals retain the retro look, although it can be said that it does look outdated. The music is great to listen to and gives you a sense of nostalgia, especially the sound effects. If you are looking to get a trilogy of classics for your Playstation 3 or Playstation Portable (or both if you do have them), then you really can’t go past Vanguard II, Alpha Mission and T.N.K III. Kudos to SNK for re-releasing these games.
While those of you in Japan are enjoying Tokyo Game Show 2011, spare a thought for us here in Australia that have another month to go before our very own games expo.
Thankfully, EB Games have released the map for their upcoming EB Expo, which is due to be held on October 15th and 16th. The map showcases the layout of the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre where the event is taking place, and we can say it sure does look great.
More than 20 publishers and developers will be exhibiting upcoming content at EB Expo, including Ubisoft, Activision, and Bethesda. Here’s our pick of the games that will be exhibited:
Activision
– Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3
– COD Elite
– Prototype 2
Bethesda
– The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
EA
– Battlefield 3
– Mass Effect 3
Konami
– Metal Gear Solid HD Collection
– Pro Evo Soccer 2012
Namco Bandai
– Soul Calibur 5
Playstation
– Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
Square Enix
– Final Fantasy XIII-2
Warner Bros. Games
– Batman: Arkham City
– LOTR: War in the North
Xbox 360
– Forza 4
– Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary
For more information on EB Expo 2011, check out the official site here. Stay tuned for more news and comprehensive coverage of the event!
