We’ve seen a few screenshots and learned a little bit about what the game will be like when it is released sometime in the future. But now we finally have a gameplay trailer for Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy and I can probably speak for most Final Fantasy fans when I say that Theatrhythm looks like it will be a great experience.
The game will be focused around rhythm gameplay, where players will have to use the touchscreen to input taps and swipes at the right times. The highlight of this footage is the fact that there will be footage used from the original games during some of the songs which is a perfect way to get fans interested and definitely strike the nostalgia chord.
SkyDrift
Developer: Digital Reality
Publisher: NAMCO BANDAI Games
Platforms: XBLA (reviewed), PSN, PC
Release Date: September 7, 2011
Price: 1200 MSP – (Available Here)
Overview
Upon first glance SkyDrift reminded me of an avian Hydro Thunder. Normally played in arcades, Hydro Thunder incorporates racing of high tech speed boats. Well, these aren’t speed boats. SkyDrift takes racing to the next level by utilizing dual stick controls for maneuverability. Not many racing games promote the use of a barrel roll.
Gameplay
Upon entering the race selection screen, you are able to undergo a tutorial session that discusses the base game mechanics. The left control stick provides left, right, up, and down movement while the right trigger propels the plane forward. Honestly, I hardly take my finger off the gas and rarely choose to use the left trigger to break. “If you ain’t first, you’re last!” (Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby)
Being able to use the basic controls is important, but maneuvering becomes a little more tricky. The right control stick provides rotation for the plane. Adjusting the wings offers a quicker change in direction and the ability to fit through rock formations. A key aspect to consider when making immediate turns is to slow down – something I fail to do. Utilizing the break can save you from an unnecessary explosion.
A unique feature in the game is adding boost to your plane’s speed. A boost meter is provided for players in order to gain a possible edge over opponents. Once depleted, the meter can only be refilled by flying close to the ground or by recycling item pick-ups.
SkyDrift becomes a more complex game by adding power items. A player may hold two items at any time and can upgrade them by flying through the same item twice. For example, the missile power-up fires a missile at a locked-on opponent. After upgrading this item, it has the ability to fire out multiple missiles to create an even greater devastation. I was playing a last man standing match and held on to my upgraded missile. Nearing the finish line I unleashed total fury and won within the last five seconds. I was pumped and even was awarded a medal winning in that fashion.
Power-ups can aid you in other ways than destroying your opponents. If a missile has been fired in your direction, you can pop up a shield and negate the damage done to your plane. Or you could be taking direct machine gun fire and in need of repairs. By using the wrench power-up, your fiery plane will be restored to its former glory. Crashing after using this item would only add insult to injury. Alternatively, all power-ups can be recycled into useable boost. Recycle enough items to receive a medal for your boosting efforts.
Each plane is given its own personal attributes. The player can choose their preference on using a combination of speed, acceleration, durability, boost power, and maneuverability. My personal favorite planes have more speed and acceleration than any other attribute. While this may make me faster than most planes, I have a greater chance of flying into walls and not have as precise turning. New planes unlock with completing stages, so you don’t have to stay committed to the same plane. Even new skins can be unlocked but have no altering effects. At least you can customize how you want your plane to look.
With different game modes like power race, speed race, and survivor, plane choice could be a critical decision. In a speed race, the determining factor is navigating through rings that increase your speed. Having increased turning power and speed helps immensely in this mode. Power race is a combination of speed and power items usage. You can rely solely on your speed to carry you through the race, but your plane will be targeted several times by unyielding opponents. Any plane is capable of winning at any mode, but you must keep in mind how to use them accordingly. Survivor mode is perhaps the most difficult of the three. Players are continually eliminated by being last in the line-up after consecutive countdowns. Basically, the last man standing takes home the trophy. Utilizing power-ups is a necessity in order to be successful in survivor mode otherwise prepare for elimination. Attain a rank of 3rd or better in campaign to unlock new stages and planes.
While the campaign is able to hold its own, the multiplayer has potential. Finding players online may be sporadic and time consuming. I tend to be impatient when it comes to any waiting periods, and the multiplayer did not help. Since you can play with 2-8 players online, you can be matched up with a single opponent. I felt that a head-to-head match on survivor mode is a ridiculous notion, and CPU opponents should be added to increase playability. Otherwise after the first round of elimination the match is over – very frustrating.
Graphics/Audio
The environments are highly detailed. Digital Reality did well to making every art asset visually appealing and offer enjoyable sceneries to play through. Whether you are flying through an industrial park or a shipwreck, your eyes are continually monitoring the screen for any obstacle.
Using your boost will cause your plane to go faster and additionally cause blurriness to your outer peripherals. This helps create a believable feeling of achieving higher speeds while showing a bit of realism. If you are attaining such speeds, won’t you be more focused on what is in front of you anyway?
The music score is nothing special to discuss nor is it degrading. The background music is simply masked over the action packed sound effects of each plane. And you shouldn’t expect to go on a joyride in this game. Plan on being challenged at every crevice and avoiding near death collisions. Even though the explosions are cool.
Overall
While mimicking an arcade classic, SkyDrift offers players more by incorporating an arsenal of weapons to literally decimate each other. Mastering dual stick controls may prove to be difficult but creates a challenge that most gamers won’t pass up.
The campaign is probably the game’s strongest asset. Requiring ranked wins to unlock new stages, SkyDrift provides a challenging experience for any gamer. While the multiplayer relies on active online members, I would bet to see more traffic in the near future. SkyDrift is a neat racing game that everyone should get their hands on.
Developer of Heavy Rain, Quantic Dream’s co-founder Guillaume de Fondaumiere has a more than a little problem with used games. That picture there may as well be him pointing the gun at used games. Guillaume de Fondaumiere told GI.biz that the company has lost quite a large amount of money supposedly from used game sales since the relase of their title Heavy Rain.
Fondaumiere said that the company has “basically sold to date approximately two million units” but thanks to “the trophy system that probably more than three million people bought this game and played it.” Because of these numbers he says that “On my small level it’s a million people playing my game without giving me one cent. And my calculation is, as Quantic Dream, I lost between €5 and €10 million worth of royalties because of second hand gaming.”
While this can be seen as a relatively decent argument, it also is a rather poor one. The numbers do not factor in multiple account households, people renting the title (which is justifiable considering its length) and lending the game to friends. After hearing this, it seems that some developers are losing touch with consumers.
Shadow the Hedgehog made his debut on the Dreamcast in 2001’s Sonic Adventure 2, and quickly became a very popular character amongst Sonic fans. The anti-hero has been one of the few new editions to the recent Sonic roster to be so happily embraced, and as a result even scored his own self-titled game in 2005. Occasionally known as “The ultimate life form” he is often seen with a Chaos Emerald, of which he has the ability to distort time and space using his signature technique “Chaos Control.” With speed that also rivals Sonic, this guy is one tough rival!
After recently announcing Metal Sonic for Sonic Generations, today SEGA has released this render of Shadow and has announced he will be a rival appearing in the upcoming game where he is sure to be a challenge! Little is known of his role within the game, but I think it’s safe to assume he’ll be a boss in at least one stage, but weather if he’ll be playable or not is unknown. Stay tuned as more rivals are yet to be announced-hopefully some more classic ones to help celebrate 20 years of everybody’s favourite blue hedgehog!
The original Max Payne was a ground breaking third-person shooter released in 2001, sporting a stylish presentation and engaging story, making Mr Payne one of the action genre’s first multi-dimensional characters in video game history, as well as helping of popularizing the idea of ‘bullet-time’ along side The Matrix, and along the way gathered both a significant fan base and collection of awards. The gritty neo-noir action classic spawned a franchise that has sold over 7 million copies worldwide and even a hollywood movie.
Today Rockstar announced that this classic title will be ported to mobile devices later this fall, complete with a full HD treatment. Max Payne will include connectivity and support from the Rockstar Games Social Club and also contain the same features as the PC version, including HD graphics and high-resolution textures, complete with deep, customisable controls. Very little details have been revealed so far, but Rockstar have told us to stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.
Those who haven’t been able to attend any form of gaming convention in the past few months have probably heard plenty about seeing an Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim demo presentation. Unfortunately for them, the footage was never able to be shown outside of the events… until now. Bethesda has released three videos which total to a little over twenty minutes of Skyrim goodness.
You can catch all of the videos below and listen to the narration by Game Director/Executive Producer Todd Howard as he walks through a number of features and plenty of combat, even with a dragon. The demo footage is roughly the same exact footage shown off at E3 this year, but with November 11th seeming so far away still, every drop of Skyrim media is a great thing.
Rockstar Games have released a new title update for Red Dead Redemption and Undead Nightmare in preparation for the upcoming free downloadable content Myths and Mavericks Park. Both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 players will be prompted to download the update when they next log in into Xbox LIVE and Playstation Network respectively. This new update fixes a few multiplayer issues and bugs:
Return of Undead Overrun to original rules (extended sudden death, no explosive spit)
Fixes for several multiplayer exploits, including invincibility, invisibility, flying, and rapid-fire
Fix for exploit which resulted in use of Undead weapons in Free Roam
The addition of an option to exit Undead Overrun without sacrificing XP
Fix for killing other players in Friendly Free Roam by cooking dynamite
Fix for a Poker exploit that resulted in rapid accumulation of money
Fix for occasionally being unable to move after crashing in a wagon
Fix for Nuevo Paraiso bounties being reset upon loading a save
Fix for System Link issue on Xbox 360
Red Dead Redemption’s free Myths and Mavericks DLC pack is available for download tommorow
Namco Bandai is at it again. This is the current Tales situation. Tales of Xillia was released on September 8, roughly four days ago in Japan. With that out of the way, Namco Bandai has already moved onto the next Tales project. Already, only after four days? The reveal of new information astonishes me, as the countdown at time of publish is currently at one day and seventeen hours. What makes it more astonishing is the fact the website states “New Tales of”. What does this mean? A new mothership title? A spin-off title? Well, we will find out at the Tokyo Game Show, as that seems the best opportunity to announce the game. Maybe it is part of the “new titles announcements” section of Namco Bandai’s showing.
What do you think the new Tales game might be? Will we see it in the West? Leave your comments below.
T.N.K III Developer: SNK Publisher: SNK Platform: Playstation 3/Playstation Portable (minis) Release Date: Out Now Price: $2.99
Man, there are quite a bit of arcade re-releases at the moment. Apparently that seems to be the business right about now. With that in mind, it’s time for another downloadable re-release review with tank battles the focus of this review. Get ready for a grand war as you, the player, cross through different terrain to battle ground troops, other tanks and homing missiles in T.N.K III. This 2D vertical scrolling tank game, developed by SNK, was released in arcades in the mid 1980’s and now appears as part of the Playstation minis range. It features classic tank gameplay, delectable 2D graphics and retains the 8-bit music. However, is it worth downloading?
Gameplay
T.N.K III is a standard 2D top down shooter, only this time you control a tank. Your objective is to get from one end of the map to the other. Plain and simple. However, there is a whole army of ground troops, tanks and other gun stations trying to stop you in your tracks. Trust me, they will try everything. The tank’s main weapons are the machine gun (press X) and a cannon, which fires a shell (press O). The controls are Ok but can be awkward due to the original control set up. The game used a rotary joystick when it was released in the arcades. Due to a lack of such, to turn the cannon, you have to press L1 and R1. This is a little awkward at first but you do get use to it. Of course, like every game in this genre, you will be able to collect power ups. They include better tank shells and extra energy. I do have to add, however, that it is a necessity to survive on the first tank because the power up will help you immensely in the later stages of the game. If you have played Ikari Warriors or Iron Tank (the sequel to this game), then you will be familiar with the style of gameplay.
Just like Alpha Mission and Vanguard II, another arcade re-release from SNK which I will review, the game offers you four difficulty modes: Easy, normal, Hard and Hardest. But no matter the difficulty you decide to choose, expect a tough road to victory. A common motif with these arcade games is the idea of having too much projectiles on the screen at the same time. Tank shells, bullets and homing missiles could be on the screen directed to you. Other than that, it is excellent gameplay. You can also run over the ground troops, which reward you with a little extra health. More often than not you will be squashing those men. Is it sadistic to say that I enjoyed it? Overall, the gameplay is excellent and fun.
Visuals
The visuals, since this is a direct port of the arcade game, it retains the classic 8-bit graphics. The colours are bright and variant. As the tank progresses, it will pass different terrains, like forests, lakes and even a statue. The enemies are small, so don’t expect any sort of facial details, but they do have different uniforms to distinguish themselves from their brethren. You will see a flow of men in green and grey (with red caps). The tanks are also coloured differently depending on their cannon fire. There are brown tanks, green tanks and even blue tanks. The level design is well though out, giving the player space to manoeuvre, which is very important in this game. Overall, the visuals are great for its time.
Music
The music sent me on a nostalgic trip. I love the old school 8-bit sound effects of the game. The explosions have that Atari feel, the machine gun fire is like an 8-bit train speeding on the tracks. The cannon fire is a massive thud when launched from the tank. Other familiar sounds include the launch of a missile from the lake, which is a warring sign of heavy damage and, for some odd reason, the death sound when a ground trooper dies reminds me of the death sound of Pacman. I could be pushing it, but it does remind me of that classic death noise. But what about the background music? Well, there isn’t any background music when you play, which is quite cool. There are so many sound effects, there is no point on having that background music. Overall, the 8-bit music is awesome due to the nostalgic effect it has one me (and others no doubt).
Overall
Yesterday, I recommended Alpha Mission for everyone who enjoys space shooters, retro games or both. Well, I can say the same thing about T.N.K III. I believe that this is a great game worth paying the $2.99 they ask for. The gameplay is absolutely fun, the visuals are outstanding for the time and the music will send you back in time… in your mind. If you love this sort of gameplay for just want to play it for the mistalgic factor, then go sign in to (or sign up for) the US Playstation Store and buy this game. It is a purchase you won’t regret.
In celebration for their upcoming update for Sreet Fighter IV Volt for iPhone/iPod/iPad, Capcom-Unity are hosting a Street Fighter give away on their website! This new update will contain 2 new fighters: one being Fei Long, the other yet to be revealed. Fans now have the chance to guess at the second character that will be in the update, on their page. Accepting one guess per person, and only accepting one name, participants better think hard! All entries that are correct will be thrown into the drawing to win an awesome Street Fighter prize pack that includes:
1. SFIV,SSFIV Official Complete guide/art book
2. SSFIV promo Playing card
3. SSFIV AE premium sound track
and the gift Capcom app bundle:
– RE4 mobile edition
– RE Mercenaries VS.
– Dead Rising Mobile
– DMC4 Refrain
– Monster Hunter Dynamic Hunting
– Ghost and Goblins 1 and 2
