At this year’s E3, there has been no shortage of announcements for brand new games. Konami and Gaijin Entertainment’s ‘Blades of Time’ is one of them, a brand new hack and slash action game for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. In Blades of Time players control Ayumi a gunsword-wielding treasure hunter set on a mission to find lost bounties on a long-forgotten island.
This hack and slash game will feature a range of enemy types, combos, weapons and special abilities, such as Ayumi’s ability to rewind time (hence the title ‘Blades of Time’). The game will also feature multiplayer in the form of co-op campaign and in player vs player battle. Not much more details on the game are known but expect to hear more about the game further to it release date.
Blades of Time is set to be released in Q1 2012 for Xbox and Playstation 3
Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE Summer of Arcade campaign has been extremely successful and in their fourth year they’re certainly taking things to eleven with an amazing lineup of XBLA games. Here’s the insane list of blockbuster arcade releases for the five weeks it’ll be running, starting on July 20.
· Bastion (Supergiant/Warner Brother Interactive Entertainment): Bastion is an action role-playing experience that redefines storytelling in games, with a reactive narrator who marks your every move. Explore more than 40 lush hand-painted environments as you discover the secrets of the Calamity, a surreal catastrophe that shattered the world to pieces. Wield a huge arsenal of upgradeable weapons and battle savage beasts adapted to their new habitat. Finish the main story to unlock New Game Plus mode and continue your journey!
· From Dust (Ubisoft): Discover a unique Modern God game where nature is the star. From Dust, is the latest original concept by Eric Chahi, visionary creator of Another World. Behold the beauty of a primitive world pulsing with life and face the might of nature. Beware the danger of a world that is constantly changing under your command. Control the destiny of a tribe struggling to survive and help it recover its ancestors’ lost powers. Immerse yourself in a world as exotically beautiful as it is dangerous. A universe where Nature reclaims what is Hers; and you are your people’s only chance of survival.
· Fruit Ninja Kinect (Halfbrick/Microsoft Studios): The worldwide gaming phenomenon Fruit Ninja has now arrived for Kinect in its juiciest form yet – YOU are the ninja! Your arms are now blades, and the battle against the world’s most delicious produce is just beginning. Fruit Ninja Kinect is an amazing evolution of the slice-em-up genre created by Halfbrick, utilizing next-gen precision power for the juiciest combat ever!
· Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet(Fuelcell/ Microsoft Studios): This side-scrolling 2D action adventure game takes players on a journey through the curious Shadow Planet worlds, unique environments filled with twisted life, surreal ecologies, hostile creatures and environmental hazards. Players explore the depths of several interconnected themed areas, fighting swarms of enemies, battling bosses, solving mind-bending puzzles and acquiring power-ups to unlock new parts of the map.
· Toy Soldiers: Cold War (Signal Studios/ Microsoft Studios): Jump into the fray with playful’ 80s combat action in Toy Soldiers: Cold War! Bring your favorite action toys to life and wage war against the red menace. Need backup? Call in a friend for co-op campaign action on the couch or over Xbox LIVE. Take a break from the main battle with Survival mode and playful mini-games. When you beat your LIVE friends’ scores, they’ll be gunning to reclaim the top spot!
And as always, there’s a few gems that aren’t officially on the Summer of Arcade lineup as they’re higher profile and don’t need the extravaganza but still pack a massive punch. This year we get the sequel to the action-packed Splosion Man and a robot-powered shooter from critically acclaimed designer Tim Schafer and Double Fine.
· Ms. Splosion Man(Twisted Pixel/Microsoft Studios): You got a problem? Yo, she’ll ‘splode it. At the Big Science afterparty celebrating the capture of Splosion Man, a spill of champagne shorts out the safety protocols on the splosionatrix and from it emerges Ms. Splosion Man! Ms. Splosion Man is not a sequel, but an evolution of the original Splosion Man. Coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade in 2011!
· Trenched (Double Fine/Microsoft Studios): Trenched is a hybrid tower defense and third person shooter game, set after World War I in an alternate reality, where the player controls units from “The Mobile Trench Brigade” to fight off robotic species called the Monovision. Players will control giant mecha-style robots with weapon and armor customization through a variety of missions set across the world. Coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade in 2011!
And that’s not all, check in tomorrow as Microsoft is doing a new arcade game reveal every day of E3.
Pull out your chewing gum and put your thinking caps on, because Telltale Games’ Puzzle Agent 2 is set for release on June 30. Sequel to the smash hit Puzzle Agent, Puzzle Agent 2 picks up with FBI Agent Nelson Tethers having “solved” the Scoggins Eraser Factory case. However, with factory foreman Isaac Davner missing and the “Hidden People” mystery largely unsolved, troubled Agent Tethers goes rogue and ventures back to the eerie town of Scoggins, Minnesota to solve the biggest case of his career.
Puzzle Agent is developed in collaboration with comic artist and animator Graham Annable which really adds a lot of character and charm to the game. PC Gamer gave it their “Puzzle Game of the Year” award and IGN listed it as their best iPhone game of E3 2010.
If you haven’t played the original Puzzle Agent that’s okay, because if you pre-order Puzzle Agent 2, not only will you get 10% off but Telltale will give you Puzzle Agent for free! Why? Because Telltale loves you, and you’re their favorite.
“The Puzzle Agent series illustrates what can happen when top indie development talent has an opportunity to shine in front of a big audience,” said Telltale CEO Dan Connors. “As the first game in our Pilot Program, Puzzle Agent validates our decision to create the program and set the stage for Puzzle Agent 2 as well as other amazing indie projects.”
I have to say, I love Telltale, they’re single handedly revitalising the graphic adventure genre while ushering in episodic gaming to the masses. Puzzle Agent is one of those games that really have a soul with it’s Fargo meets Twin Peaks mixed with aSaturday morning cartoon, which is really unique and refreshing to see. If you haven’t tried it yet, go ahead and pre-order Puzzle Agent 2 so you can your free copy. You wont regret it.
Telltale Games’ Puzzle Agent 2 will be available on June 30 for PC, Mac, iPad and iPhone.
All PC and Mac pre-orders receive 10% off and the original Puzzle Agent for FREE.
Original Puzzle Agent iPad and iPhone versions on sale now!
The iPhone version of Plants vs. Zombies has sprouted an update. Popcap Games are pleased to announce that their new update will feature additional content, mini-games and achievements. The update will include a brand new game mode title Zen Garden, as well as six mini-games: Zomiquarium, It’s Raining Seeds, Column Like You See, Slot Machine, Beghouled Twist and Portal Combat. To give you a bit more encouragement to get through these games, Popcap have also integrated a bunch of achievements for you to earn. Wall-Not Attack, which can be gained by completely ZomBotany without using wall-nuts, tall-nuts or pumpkins. Lucky Spin, by getting three diamonds in slot machine. Chilli Free, which can be attained after completely Column Like You See ‘Em without using jalapenos. Enlightened, which can be achieved after collecting Zen Garden, Mushroom Garden and Aquarium Garden plants. Green Fingers can be achieved after growing ten Zen Garden plants to full size. Lastly, you can achieve the title Sultan of Spin by upgrading all your plants in Beghouled Twist. Popcap have also announced that future updates will include Retina Display support, IZombie, Vasebreaker, and much more. You can get all this new content, as well as all original game content for only $3.99AU or $2.99US.
AR! Pirates Developer: Optricks Media Publisher: Special Move Games Genre: First-person Shooter, Augmented Reality Platform: iPhone(reviewed)/iPad Release: 27/5/11 Price: Free to download, $1.19 to upgrade in game (Buy Here)
What E3 trip could be complete without getting our hands on the PS Vita? Well my hands were definitely on it in the video interview below. We managed to talk to Paul Lovell, game developer from Big Big Game Studios who are developing Little Deviants for the PS Vita which will be released as a launch title when the PS Vita is released somewhere down the line.
In the video below you will hear MasterAbbott interviewing Mr. Lovell on the various features that the PS Vita has as well as see how responsive all of the controls are on the newly revealed handheld. The PS Vita’s touch screen controls are certainly very responsive but I can see games that focus heavily on the back touch screen being hard to get used to because it is difficult to match your finger position with the thing you have to tap on the front of the screen, as seen in the fourth to last game, House of Whacks, which you can see five minutes into the video below. Let us know what you think of the PS Vita now that it has been fully revealed and of the video below!
During our hands on demo’s at Capcom’s booth MasterAbbott was able to get a few words in with Product Marketing Manager Eric Monacelli about Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. Eric runs through a quick description of the title and also talks about a number of different features that the game will contain when it is fully finished, as well as what we are seeing right now in the video below. Through the fifteen minute video we see nearly the entire demo that was provided to players on the E3 floor as well as back in the VIP section.
I also had some hands on time with the title and you can read my impressions for the title here. You can see the zombification occur first hand around six minutes in. Capcom is working alongside Slant Six Games, best known for their work with SOCOM, to create a proper squad based shooter. Check out the video below and let us know what you think!
Wrapping up our tour of 2K’s E3 booth behind the scenes I was introduced to Tim Garrotson who is the Executive Producer of Irrational Games, the company developing Bioshock Infinite who helped walk us through the demonstration that they had set up in the room. Bioshock Infinite takes place on the floating town of Colombia. Colombia used to be a prosperous city that was built as a floating city to astonish the world and show the things that the United States is capable of. Shortly after it was launched however it was discovered that Colombia was more than just a prestigious place to live, but a battle ready fortress as well.
During the Boxer Rebellion, Colombia fired upon Chinese protesters and the fallout from the event caused the United States government to disown Colombia and let the city pass from memory as it continued to float around the world as a forgotten city. That is until now.The long isolated city has now fallen into a state of civil war with the Founders on one side, attempting to retain order and hold things the way that they were and the Vox Populi who are a rebellion group set on overthrowing the Founders.
Players will be in control of Booker DeWitt who has been sent to Colombia in an effort to save a woman named Elizabeth who possesses a powerful ability and is being held captive by a monstrous giant metal bird looking creature called Songbird. We join Booker and Elizabeth shortly around 3/4ths of the way in and things are calm at first. So much so that the long isolated Elizabeth can find some enjoyment in the novelty’s inside the shop that Booker entered to try and find some supplies. She is very light hearted at times and plays with a Lincoln mask and believes fake gold is real.
All of that is shattered in instant as we hear Songbird approach and both Booker and Elizabeth take cover and hide behind a counter as it passes by, with pure terror easy to read on Elizabeth’s face. Shortly after leaving the store the two come across a wounded horse. The game presented an option to execute the horse and put it out of its misery, but the developer chose not to, and instead we were introduced to Elizabeth’s ability to open up tears in time and she attempts to reverse time in the area of the wounded horse. However she is unable to control her power and manages to throw both herself and Booker into a 1980’s street where you can see an advertisement for Star Wars on the outside of a theater. She manages to cancel the tear before being run over by an ambulance.
Elizabeth’s ability to interact with different tears in reality can allow her to repair broken objects, spawn cover or even spawn a door that was never there before to find other routes for any given battle. The choice system appears again as Elizabeth and Booker come across an imminent execution of a post worker by the Vox Populi. This time the developer chose to stop the execution which caused battle to be entered and the approach of a giant blimp with rockets. The combat system in Bioshock Infinite seemed to focus on entirely gunfire at this point of the demonstration with only a sparing use of special abilities. This could be a bit of a disappointment to those wishing to focus on using powers rather than guns. After very elaborately transversing the rail system by hopping back and forth between rails on the grappling hook, Booker manages to take the blimp down.
Not everything is good however, as soon as Elizabeth and Booker think they are safe, Songbird appears visually this time, grabbing Booker and throwing him through the sky into a building, all through the first person view. The only reason that Booker isn’t murdered right there by the giant bird is that Elizabeth begs for its forgiveness and says she will return with Songbird. The game demo ends with Songbird picking up Elizabeth and walking away, while Booker fades into unconsciousness on the floor, creating a very touching, but tinged with desperation, image of Elizabeth reaching for Booker in an effort to remain free from Songbirds grasp.
After stopping in and seeing XCOM in action I was ushered over into The Darkness II presentation room where we were introduced to the game by project director Sheldon Carter. He told us that The Darkness II will be the continuation of the story two years after the events that occurred in The Darkness I. After obtaining revenge for the killing of Jenny Jackie had been managing to suppress the Darkness for two years, that is of course until he was tricked into using it by a member of the Brotherhood.
The Brotherhood is a newly introduced faction of enemies which have studied the Darkness for centuries and had previously managed to capture and contain the Darkness away from the world. The Darkness will always corrupt the people near it however and the members of the Brotherhood were no exception. They seek out Jackie now in an effort to take the Darkness away from him and use it for their own nefarious ends. Because of their history with the Darkness they are well aware of the various weaknesses that it possesses.
We join Jackie at an abandoned carnival, though unfortunately it isn’t as abandoned as we may hope as we soon come across the first Brotherhood enemy in the game. The Brotherhood know of the Darkness’ weakness to light and they find every opportunity to prevent Jackie from using the Darkness to his advantage. Some Brotherhood members will be able to throw out flash bang grenades which not only temporarily stun Jackie but also force the Darkness to retreat inside of Jackie’s body, leaving him vulnerable. Other members of the Brotherhood will carry around light cannons that constantly shine light on Jackie until he either manages to shoot the light out or kill the enemy holding it.
Many of the game’s previous combat mechanics return with Jackie being able to use two guns at the same time and eat the hearts of defeated enemies but there are a few new additions to the combat. First the Darkness can pick up pieces of the environment to serve as a shield of sorts against the bullets being fired at Jackie as well as throw items in the environment to kill these enemies. Every time an enemy is killed the player will be rewarded with points that can be spent on the new “Talent Shrines” that allow Jackie to learn new Darkness abilities.
The main skill shown off was the Gun Channeling skill tree which imbues the guns that Jackie is wielding with Darkness power that can let Jackie not only see enemies through walls but also shoot them through the walls as well. Jackie also has the ability to grab enemies with the Darkness and either perform an execution kill on them or throw them if they so desire. Just remember to go back and eat their hearts!
We were told by Sheldon Carter that The Darkness II will have hand painted textures which will help provide a graphic novel type feel and I could notice that the game certainly had that feel. Once we had seen the end of the demonstration, the demo went to black before displaying what appeared to be Jackie waking up in a psycho ward in hospital and a doctor telling him that he will be able to help him. Certainly a cliff hanger ending which I can’t wait to learn more about when the game releases this October for the PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360.
Arcana Heart 3 Publisher: Aksys Games Developer: EXAMU/Arc System Works Genre: 2D fighting Platform: PS3 (PSN) Release date: April 20th, 2011 Price: $29.99
Overview:
Out of people you could ever could pick a fight with which one would you least want to fight? Maybe a wrestler, bouncer, or even a kung fu master? In Arcana Heart 3 for the Playstation 3 your worst fear is a group of girls who aren’t afraid to throw down. Don’t go asking these girls to go into the kitchen and make you a sandwich because that sandwich will be served with your ass handed on it. EXAMU, Arc System Works, and Aksys games presents us with a great 2D fighter with an all female cast. I can say for Arcana Heart 3 these girls are made of sugar, spice, and everything fun. What makes this game great find out in our review.
Story:
So the story is well a bit complex as to be expected with these anime fighters but let me try to break it down for everyone. Japan is in big trouble as it is about to be destroyed in six days and the player must collect the six stones in order to prevent this from happening. Story is told with original Japanese dialog and English subtitles which should please most crazy hardcore anime fans. The story also follows after the the events of the 2nd game which was not released outside of Japan.
The story is told in a typical fighting game fashion where you will have some small conversations before and after fights that really don’t move the story along also nothing at the beginning of story mode really explaining what is going on other than seeing a character talking about reviving something. If you are a fan and follower of the Arcana Heart universe then there maybe some enjoyment for you in the story. Arcana Heart 3 has some interesting characters that could have been really explored more and that is a little disappointing.
Graphics and Sound:
Arcana Heart 3 is a 2D fighter with drawn sprites and backgrounds. I really love the characters and art style. The character design has a little of everything you come to expect from an anime fighter and it gets pretty wacky. You have your typical school girls, chicks with guns, martial artist and then you get into the whacky side of the roster where its a girl in a bunny hat piloting a mech, girl swimming in a giant blob of water, and even a a drawing of a green monster drawn by a little girl to name a few. Characters animate really well and it is very smooth with no slow down.
Backgrounds look really nice and have nice detail in them. In Arcana Heart 3 there is a dimensional rift and that causes the backgrounds to change, you can have seasons change on you or ghost appear in the background. The only thing disappointing to say about the backgrounds is that they are very static and don’t move at all. It seems that they used a fade in and out when transitioning backgrounds. Wish there was a little more work put into it. There is no real animated cutscenes just graphics with voices dubbed over them with the character graphics sometimes changing, which is a bit of a let down.
A very nice feature is that you can play the game with original or HD graphics. On top of that you can choose to play the game in the original 4:3 format or you can stretch it to a widescreen 16:9 format. Thankfully if you decide to play in the 16:9 format it still looks great and doesn’t seem to look or have any jaggy edges. Graphics over all look great just wish those backgrounds had a little more life to them just like the cast of the game.
I really enjoyed the soundtrack to Arcana Heart 3. While it is nothing that really stands out it has a few good tracks and fits well. The voice acting is all Japanese with no option for an English language track which will be alright for most although a few may not care for that. Over all its pretty standard.
Gameplay:
This is the part where Arcana Heart 3 shines is in its gameplay. You have five buttons, three of those are attack buttons, one is a homing button that allows you to quickly fly toward your opponent at fast speeds and the other button is to be used with your Arcanas. If you are new to fighting games don’t worry as there is a simple mode which is similar to that found in Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 where some buttons will automatically do combos for you. The fighting is fast and responsive. Its easy to chain combos together and experiment with. Each character stands out from one another and there are no two characters that play alike. There are 23 characters to choose from.
The Arcana system in Arcana Heart 3 is what gives this game depth and helps it stand out amongst the Street Fighters and Blazblues out there. Arcanas can be chosen with your character and they add attributes and moves to your characters roster. With 23 characters and 23 Arcana to choose from you can have almost endless possibilities with the roster. It is also really cool to summon your Arcana and watch it take out a good chunk of your opponent’s life. Don’t worry you really can’t spam this but it can be useful if you get stuck in a tough spot.
Arcana Heart 3 features plenty of game modes. You have the story mode which plays like the traditional arcade mode in most fighters but it allows you to choose out of a selection of five or two if your at the half way point of characters to play against. This can encourage multiple play throughs and try to see what would happen if you ran into one character over another. After you go through and fight through the ladder you will fight the final boss which is really tough and pretty cheap. For me I don’t mind that in a boss fight since most of them have been pretty dumbed down as late.
You have a score attack mode which is really similar to story mode except its a straight ladder of opponents which get much more difficult as you progress. What is interesting and maybe the most frustrating is that there is a special boss for this mode. Parace is one of the most difficult and cheapest bosses out there. If you think the story mode boss was crazy this is worse. She will throw these glowing orbs at you and keep hitting you non stop with devastating attacks. This will defiantly test even the most hardened of fighting game players. She has been beat by many so if you put enough time and effort into it you should come out on top. At this time I have yet to beat her myself.
If you prefer your players to be that of the human persuasion then you can play locally with a friend or take it online. I want to thank Arc System Works yet again making a great fighter that plays amazing online. Very rarely I have had a bad online connection and even if it does slow down it quickly tries to correct itself. Players who love to show off their skills can save their matches and share them online. Also there are leaderboards and a gallery where you can take a look at game artwork and animations.
Overall:
Arcana Heart 3 shows it has a fighting game not only has heart but its own soul too. From a presentation and story stand point it isn’t the greatest but what it lacks in those areas it exceeds as an excellent fighter that adds an extra layer of strategy on top. 2D fighting fans who want a little something new should definitely pick up Arcana Heart 3 on PSN. You can get it right now for only $30. Also thanks to Aksys Games for providing the code to review this title.
