Kirby Mass Attack has been on my radar since it was announced, and so far the touchscreen styled platformer has been shaping up to be one of this years finest offerings on the Nintendo DS. If you have ever bought a portable Kirby game though since the GBA line, you should definitely expect mini-games to be thrown in as unlockable extras.
Nintendo released a new trailer today, showing off quite a few mini-games that will be able to be unlocked in Mass Attack. Normally we might see one or two, but this title actually features a large variety mini-games based on several types of genres. RPGs, Shmups, Pinball, and even whack a mole are all shown and are set to include several of the enemies from the series such as Mr. Shine and Mr Bright and the infamous Whispy Woods. Check out the new clip below and mark your calenders now, as Kirby Mass Attack launches on September 19th.
XSEED Games have announced that they will be localising JRPG game, Corpse Party for the Playstation Portable and bring it to the U.S.
As you can tell from it’s title, Corpse Party is a horror RPG game. The game was originally created with the program RPG Maker by Team GrisGris, before being adapted into a full-fledged Playstation Portable title by 5pb. Games (known for such hits as Steins;Gate and Chaos;Head).
Along-side the announcement was a promo trailer which can be viewed below. Corpse Party tells the story of two school-girls trapped in a school that is well… haunted!
Be sure to check out the trailer for all the details and let us know what you think in the comments section.
That’s right the first official multiplayer trailer for Modern Warfare 3 is now out on the web after being revealed at COD XP. The trailer boasts some impressive new gameplay footage and displays some of the new items and mechanics of the game.
New gameplay mechanics and items such as; bouncing betty-like land mines, robotic mobile sentry gun and dog-tag collecting. So what are you waiting for Call of Duty fans?
Check out the new multiplayer trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 below. It’s bound to excite even the lowliest of campers.
Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
A bit of strange news today, but for those who want to see the first piece of work from Kojima Productions then you can do so now. The first episode of the “Sdatcher” radio drama which was created with help from Suda 51 is available from the Japanese website now. It takes a little bit of navigation to figure it out, but there is some small pieces of English to help out.
There is also going to be some merchandise for Sdatcher available at Tokyo Game Show. This includes a postcard set and a folder which you can see above. The radio drama will have a new episode ever other week with the last listing showing November 25th.
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine may not be out in stores yet but that doesn’t mean that THQ can’t announce some DLC for the chainsaw-sword wielding title. While this type of news usually makes fans angry, this time around it should make them quite happy, as the DLC is going to be entirely free. Warhammer 40K: Space Marine will receive the Exterminatus co-op mode in early October.
Exterminatus will contain two stages that will allow four player groups to make their way through the level and complete each stage. There will be score modifiers and dynamic challenges to give players more points that can have them rank up on the global leaderboards. Any free DLC is good DLC, even if it is announced before the game’s release.
Microsoft and Activision have started Call of Duty XP off with a bang this year and announced a limited edition Xbox 360 that will be arriving in stores alongside the heavily anticipated Modern Warfare 3. As you can see above, this unit is a lot like the Gears bundle, and will feature a “wore torn” Xbox 360 Slim, two wireless controllers, and a 320 GB hard drive. The standard release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will also be bundled inside, making this one complete package for the price of $399.99.
Those who are wanting more will also be happy to know that Activision will be releasing the MW3 controller and a new wireless headset with Bluetooth capability (which will also match the console) on October 11th. The prices for both of these items have been set at $59.99 and $69.99, respectively.
I was just pondering the other day why Microsoft haven’t brought out a console for Modern Warfare 3 (as they did with MW2), and it looks my question has been answered and COD fans can have yet another new toy to save for.
Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon
Developer: Backbone Entertainment
Publisher: 345 Games
Platforms: XBLA (reviewed), PSN
Release Date: August 30, 2011 (PSN) August 31, 2011 (XBLA)
Price: 800 MSP (Available Here)
Overview
As soon as I saw the trailer for Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon, I was pumped. Who wouldn’t be excited about crude humor, lots of blood, sexual themes, and swearing galore? Taking queue from the TV show Ugly Americans, our beloved cast is featured in an action shooter that implements RPG elements. The playable characters are Leonard (drunken wizard), Grimes (the tough cop), Callie (the hot demon chick), or Mark (the lucky human). Even though the main character tries to pacify each situation, you end up killing everything in sight. Sit back and relax for the entertaining blood bath!
Story
Our friends at the New York’s Department of Integration have stumbled upon “stranger” happenings in their immediate world. Demons, zombies, and birdmen roam the streets of NY making a path of destruction. Only by completing case files given by Twayne (leader at the DOI) can our four heroes find the source to the end of days.
Gameplay
Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon operates on a simple control mechanism. Utilizing a duel stick, the player can control movement and throwing direction. With basic instinct of shooting and avoidance, anyone can pick up this game and enjoy the crude pleasures it offers.
Each playable character has an individual leveling system and attributes. As you level, you can place points in different attribute slots such as speed, health, damage, special attack, special recovery, and luck. Allocating points evenly can be a safe route, but you can differ greatly from online players at low levels. Some players may choose speed over attack power or special attack over health. Leveling is both fun and experimental.
The right control stick shoots out a throw-able item that is in your inventory. Throughout each case file you can find items under boxes, garbage cans, and even food stands. Items can have the following characteristics: explodes on impact, enemy penetration, and multi-directional shots. Your arsenal of weapons affects your character’s attributes as well. Let’s compare the baseball and propane tank. The baseball fires in a single line at a very fast rate while sacrificing damage. Propane tanks offer a wider spread of moderate damage at a slow rate. Additionally, weapons can have bonus effects on certain characters. If Mark uses the baseball, he can potentially stun his opponents. And if Grimes uses the propane tank, he creates an even bigger area of damage. Watching out for these special effects can help immensely during gameplay.
Every character has a special ability they can recharge during the course of the game. This special ability can increase in effectiveness by allocating points in either the special ability or special recovery attribute slot. Points in special ability increases the amount of damage, but points in special recovery allows access to the ability more often. The ability affects all enemies on the screen as seen with Leonard’s power below.
Cooperative play online is a necessity to Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon. Hardly ever are you readily equipped with three others ready to play in the comfort of your home. The online feature allows you to pick up 1-3 more guests to play through case files together. The best part is that you can select invite, search, or remove to pre-determine how many people you want in your group. It is possible to invite a friend, search for an available player, and remove a slot at the same time.
Boss battles are tough. Adding a competitive edge to the game, the boss battles create an interesting flow to the game and ultimately bring players closer together. Yes, you probably want a better score than yours truly, but you want these bosses dead – especially the last one. Defeating the hordes of minions is key and requires focusing attacks. Additionally, bosses have special attacks that do heavy damage or stun for several seconds. The worst thing to do in this game is to get trapped. Please stay out of corners unless you want to die. KEEP MOVING!
Graphics/Audio
Blood, gore, manbird crap, dead creatures tend to fill up the screen at times. This just means you are doing your active duty for the Department of Integration. Be able to break food stands and garbage bins adds a fun factor by interacting with the environment. The only addition I would make would be to explode vehicles. Otherwise, graphically this game is amusing and entertaining.
The cut-scenes play out as a low budget film strip from the actual series Ugly Americans. The reason I say low budget is due to the lack of animation that is normally seen from the series. I am guessing this was done to keep the game simple . With that said the story is still enjoyable and can interest newcomers to the show – or Callie Maggotbone.
What can be said about the sounds of the game? One word describes everything, hilarious. With manbirds screaming suck my @#$%, it is hard not to laugh when you completely decimate them. The humor is crude, very crude. Prepare for a laugh.
Overall
Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon combines comedy and gameplay almost too well. If you are not too busy playing, you are laughing your ass off at the cut-scenes. With cooperative online and local gameplay, this is the best new action shooter you can get your hands on. This game is definitely worth the affordable price of 800 Microsoft Points. At least take the time to play the demo because you will not be disappointed.
Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon sets the world ablaze with
Nintendo of Australia recently announced some exciting news for all Nintendo fans in the region, as the Nintendo Connection Tour will be launching on September 24th and will continue on until October 15th. Not only will this tour be a gathering of sorts for users of the handheld to exchange data with eachother via the 3DS streetpass, but Nintendo will be bringing titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Mario Kart 7, Super Mario 3D Land, and many other upcoming and family favorites for attendees to try out.
3DS owners who attend will also be able to put their Pokedex 3D app to good use, as Pokémon AR Markers will be readily available that will allow users to take home some special photos of them and a Poke-friend. A competition will also be happening, with one lucky winner taking home all of the upcoming titles displayed on tour. To qualify for this contest, you will need to set your clock as the first 125 people to show up each day will be given a Nintendo Connection Tour lanyard to signify qualification.
After a few delays and much anticipation, El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron has finally made it’s triumphant debut on consoles everywhere. For those not familiar with this title, El Shaddai was crafted from the ground up by an all-star development team lead by Takeyasu Sawaki, who is famous for his work on Devil May Cry and Okami. While gameplay is important, the most striking elements by far are the stunning environments that come alive while the player traverses a massive tower in order to prevent obliteration of the human race. So does this title have any substance under it’s dramatic visuals? Here is my review for El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron.
Story
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron takes it’s narrative from The Book of Enoch, with several of the religious themes from the scriptures left intact. In this story however, the main player takes the role of Enoch himself and must “purify” seven fallen angels before God wipes out the world with a giant flood. To assist in this quest, a very cocky yet likable angel by the name of Lucifel acts as your guide and protector on this journey and will stop at nothing to see that these fallen deities receive judgement before the big man himself.
You might think a game based on a religious theme might be a bit boring or stale in some parts, but thankfully there is a lot to take in and I found it almost impossible to put away the controller due to the constantly unfolding plot. Oddly enough, Enoch was actually a bit bland as a character as we really didn’t get to know much about his background or personal motives, but I think the writers made up for this by surrounding this protagonist with allies and enemies that each were well portrayed and even had a bit of humor sprinkled in. Lucifel for instance steals every scene he graces the player with his presence in, as this sharply dressed angel is constantly delivering religious puns and spends a good portion of the game on his cell phone, chatting with the higher power. This guardian of sorts also serves an important purpose as anytime the player needs to save the game, they just need to head to these humorously out-of-place phone conversations.
El Shaddai’s story shines the brightest by keeping a cloak of mystery on whats ahead. Whether it was tracking down a fallen angel or following the mysterious little girl who has an odd attraction to Enoch, I always felt like there was an incentive to continue on (aside from the visuals, of course) and at times it can feel like you are watching a movie, where the build-up keeps you at the edge of your seat until the end. Sadly, the overall narrative starts to feel a bit rushed and stapled together about two-thirds of the way through, with an abrupt and disappointing finale that follows shortly after. Even though the story was rather campy at points, I felt completely invested in this tale and with all the massive presentation value and build-up throughout the game, more work should have been put in to make the finale end with a band instead of a mild spark.
Gameplay
While there is a lot to talk about when it comes to the combat in El Shaddai, this game is a platformer first and foremost. From the start, players take control of Enoch and must jump and fight their way through each stunning setting. Enoch thankfully is fantastic with his pouncing and is able to jump or double jump at the touch of a button with the player using the analog stick to control accuracy during the process. It may sound a bit silly to boast about jumping, but with the heavy amount of platforming throughout the game, it was a joy to see just how well Enoch pulled off the task.
To compliment these fluid controls, each level features a clever design that utilizes the platforming elements to near perfection. If human error is made and you fall to your doom, only a small amount of life is taken with Lucifel snapping his fingers and starting the player back right where they left off. To better show off Enoch’s platforming skills, certain areas can be accessed throughout the game that change the perspective to that of a 2D platformer. The controls work exactly the same in this view, but there are a few differences that in my opinion make this add-in the most memorable part of the whole experience due to the interaction with the environments. Some of these levels feature waves and balloons that can be hopped on and rode, while others just require some fast jumping skills to reach an exit. I don’t know if it’s the 2D platformer fan inside of me, but I got excited every time the game made it’s seamless transition to this perspective and surprisingly, these bits were lengthy at times as well.
When it comes to the actual fighting in El Shaddai, there are several mechanics in place that attempt to make the experience more than your typical hack and slash. Enoch gets three weapons at his disposal, with those being the Arch, which is used as a close-combat blade, the Gale that fires projectiles at a rapid pace, and a Veil which acts a pair of gauntlets or a shield. Out of the three, the only one I ever had trouble with was the Gale, as the darts it launched seemed to be inaccurate a good portion of the time. Now behind these three weapons are also added in abilities for equipping each. The Arch adds the power to hover for short distances, the Gale adds a dash attack, and the Veil comes equipped with a powerful ground punch. These abilities are rather minor however and don’t really serve much use other than the improved landing you get with the Arch.
The most interesting mechanics are found not the weapons themselves, but how they are actually used. You see, most enemies in the game possess the same trio of weapons you have and when you happen to knock one down, you can instantly steal their item as use it as your own. This method is more than just thievery though as a paper, rock, scissors weakness system applies to every enemy in the game. For instance, foes who hold the Arch are weak against the Gale but are more immune to the Veil, while foes who hold the Veil are weak against the Arch but strong against the Gale. This system requires you to constantly switch out weapons throughout the game and provides a fine layer of strategy to the whole fighting scheme. The only downside to this is that these three weapons are all Enoch gets and are obtained in the early chapters of the game, so after a while combat can feel a bit repetitive.
Another intriguing feature within was the way damage is taken by both the main protagonist and all foes within the game. Instead of a life bar, both Enoch and all of the enemies are equipped with armor. This armor will eventually chip away during battle, leaving an exposed character vulnerable to all incoming attacks. While it is an odd concept, it still fits right into the game’s bizarre nature and offers something original in the process.
Each floor of the tower you explore usually implements something new to keep the experience fresh. This constant revolving of various gameplay styles works for El Shaddai, but it is also somewhat of a curse at the same time. One stage might be purely based on platforming, while the next features a collection of environmental puzzles that must be completed to proceed. Another example that comes to mind is a stage where you take control of a motorcycle and have to speed through a city-lit stage while smashing enemies along the way. This bit was a blast to play, but it just felt too forced and unfitting compared to the rest of the levels within the game. That is the “curse” I was talking of though. Everytime I felt like I was starting to get into a groove with the current style of gameplay, the game would change up just for the sake of trying to add in something new to the player. Now I really respect the developers for adding in extra ingredients into the experience, but a lot of what was offered just didn’t fit with the narrative and didn’t flow properly with the other styles provided.
The main complaint by far I have with El Shaddai is how the latter portions of the game play out. During the first seven chapters, I honestly was feeling like this very well could have been one of the best titles to come out this year. After the eighth chapter though, things started to decline all over. Boss battles become a random, “here you go” type of occurrence that feel more like filler rather than a pivotal part of the storyline. As I mentioned, there are seven angels to defeat within the game, and each battle with the foes in the first half of the game feels truly epic and distinct to their own. Aside from one contender in the latter half, every other encounter plays out rather blandly and makes a couple of these bosses forgettable. This was really disappointing to myself as I felt like the game was preparing for an epic climax at the end, but the final results just didn’t live up to that potential. The road to the finale is also a rocky one, as it seemed many of the same enemy encounters and even platforming sections were repeated several times to lengthen the latter chapters.
If I didn’t love the plot so much near the end, I wouldn’t be upset about any of this. Sadly though, I was completely invested in what was going on and kept getting pulled out to complete tedious repeats. El Shaddai really doesn’t have many shortcomings in the actual gameplay mechanics, but this copy-paste level design that went on later in the game nearly overshadowed all of the fantastic innovation and beautiful visuals that El Shaddai so prominently displays.
Graphics
There are so many words that could be used to describe the visual experience one will get out of playing El Shaddai. Each environment is beautifully created and is literally alive with rich colors and textures flowing underneath your feet and in the backdrop itself. Not only are they fantastic to look at, but the sheer amount of variety makes progression feel like Christmas Morning, as there is always a whole new setting to explore and gawk at right around the corner. The 2D platforming levels keep this same aesthetic and even enhance upon it in parts, as this scenery is actually utilized into the gameplay and helps you progress throughout.
Character models are also a top-notch production all the way through as well, with each model literally flowing into the environments and making the graphical experience come full circle. When I started El Shaddai, I was looking for a map or a HUD right away as that is what one would expect for any title of the genre, but I can see why this was left out as it is obvious the developers wanted the player to explore every inch of this title to take in every sight. Now those who are wanting these tools can unlock them after completing the main game, but I honestly couldn’t imagine anything extra on the screen that might take away the “living painting” look to the game. It is a very rare occurrence when you actually stop and appreciate the world you are exploring, but El Shaddai’s groundbreaking visuals literally demand attention throughout each stage.
Audio
Another element that is just as important in El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is the soundtrack. Tunes within vary just as much as the environments do, so players are treated to a fitting track for each level that makes this fully animated world come alive. The voice acting is good for most of the characters, but I must give it to Jason Isaacs who played the role of Lucifel, as he did a superb job in bringing out the full personality of his character. At times I did notice that some bosses repeated the same line over and over, but this is easy to overlook for the most part and really isn’t as annoying as one would think. Little sound effects like gusts of wind, small footsteps, and rain showers also go a long way to create quite an atmosphere for the game, so if anyone is planning on playing this title on mute, you may be only getting a fraction of whole treatment.
Overall
If I were to base the score for this game on visuals and the soundtrack alone, it would surely be a flawless victory for El Shaddai. Sadly though, the final chapters feel rushed and misplaced and the finale was too abrupt to deliver that ultimate payoff that the game built itself up for. There are some very original ideas that are all executed wonderfully in this title, but some were just too ambitious to actually fit in with the angelic plot given and felt forced as a result. That being said, this is definitely a game that pushes the limits and at least attempts to pull in the player with it’s bizarre yet engrossing plot. No matter what the verdict, there is no doubt that years from now, El Shaddai will still be talked about for having some of the most stunning settings in videogame history, which is something that Takeyasu Sawaki and his team should definitely be proud of.
Time to dust off that old pirates eyepatch and outfit as EA’s play label have announced the release of the Sims Medieval Pirates and Nobles pack, available now to all North American users. Pirates and Nobles is an addon pack to Sims Medieval, a new Middle age themed Sims adventure allowing players to create heroes and control entire kingdoms. Included within the pack is a new storyline, many additional quests and a completely new Kingdom ambition to embark upon.
“We set out to take advantage of the great questing feature of the base game and with The Sims Medieval: Pirates and Nobles tell an epic story complete with adventure, drama romance, a royal wedding, a courtroom scene and more ,” said Scott Evans, General Manager of The Sims Studio. “It’s a kind of storytelling that you won’t see in any other Sims game. On top of that we added some great new features, including treasure hunting, interrogation, and pet parrots and falcons.”
In a choose your own adventure style of play, you will first have to make the most important decision of your Sim life, will you be a dirty swashbuckling pirate or a polite and respectable regal noble. No respectable pirate themed pack would be complete without treasure hunting or hidden objects. Players will also embark on immersive quests often of mystical nature as they search for the fountain of youth, battle evil sorcerors and engage in steamy and forbidden love affairs. As with any Sims the replay value is enormous as players can choose different routes ending up in different places.
Within the new pack are some quirky features such as a heavy emphasis on a pirates best friend, namely the parrot (as well as many other of our bird friends), which can be sent out to do all your dirty work. Another addition to the pack is the interrogation chair which can be used to persuade others to spill their darkest secrets as well as help players progress through quests and Kingdom ambition.
