LEGO Ninjago: The Videogame has been given a new trailer by publishers Warner Bros. Interactive, showing some of the gameplay in motion for the first time.
Complementing the LEGO Ninjago toy contruction sets, LEGO Ninjago: The Videogame introduces players to the art of Spinjitzu, a powerful fighting technique that uses wind to launch strong tornadoes at opponents. As shown in the trailer, the game has a focus on Ninjas as they battle with evil Skeleton Forces to restore harmony to their world.
It allows you to build up armies and send them into battle with its two player functionality and is set for release this Spring.
With 2011 being an awesome year for new releases with titles gaining headlines and brownie points among fans worldwide, there have been games over the last 3 years that haven’t earned that status.
Certain titles have fallen under the radar, despite being wonderful games at the time. These games which fell among the giant titles it was released against have now found a soft spot among small groups of fans.
Raven’s Singularity was one of these rarities. Failing to reach the level of other first person shooters, it found a cult following with its rawness, gritty maps and beautiful graphics.
Singularity was released mid 2010 to little fanfare and it could have been found at the bottom of many dump bins. With Raven now in development alongside Sledgehammer and Infinity Ward making the new Modern Warfare 3, it can be certain that Singularity will be resurrected.
With the disastrous response to EA’s Medal of Honour in October last year, saw stocks fall and fans become idle. The Call of Duty wannabe had huge expectations and failed miserably. Fans that look passed its flaws will see a superb; military based shooter with class and realism.
Alan Wake was a title that had little marketing and fanfare behind it to launch it alongside other thriller based third person shooters. The plight of author Alan Wake finding his missing wife, failed to pull the heart strings. In order to gain more exposure, Microsoft pulled out 3 DLC just months after the game was released. There are rumours Alan Wake 2 is in development.
When Dead Space was first released in 2008, it was deemed as a survival horror title made only for dedicated, horror enthusiasts to play in the dark. EA announced they had stopped making the game and with the release of the sequel this January, many have questioned why. The survival of Isaac Clarke earned a small plethora of fans dedicating fan pages, YouTube videos and even artwork to the engineer.
As gamers, it is painful to see titles we have attached ourselves to fail to make that connection with other players. Games such as Crackdown 2, Dead to Rights and even Heavy Rain never seemed to make that emotional attachment to the masses. Whilst it is difficult to match the fan favourite rivalssuch as Gears of War, Call of Duty and Halo, we know that the games that never really take off have a special place in our hearts.
As part of their deal with PopCap which also sees PopCap Hits released on Xbox 360, Mastertronic will release a compilation of PopCap greats on the PC, tomorrow on February 18th. Mastertronic is a leading UK publisher, and as such, the title is releasing exclusively to the UK retail market.
The pack is made up of three top PopCap casual games: Plants vs. Zombies GOTY, Bejeweled Blitz and Amazing Adventures the Caribbean Secret. This should open up these titles to a whole new audience now they will be available in the shops, as they have previously only been available as digital downloads.
Plants vs. Zombies GOTY, Bejewelled Blitz and Amazing Adventures the Caribbean Secret will be released for the PC on 18th February 2011, at a value price point.
Marvel vs Capcom 3 Publisher & Developer: Capcom Platforms: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PlayStation 3 Released: February 15th 2011 Price: $59.99 US – Buy Now!, £49.99 UK –Buy Now!, $109.99 AUS – Buy Now!
Overview:
Crossover fighting games have always had a special place in gamers’ hearts. What better way to settle disputes on who would beat who in a fight than to actually put them against one another? Now it has been over a decade since a Marvel vs Capcom game has provided fighting fans a chance to do battle with one another in fast paced battles that could fill the entire screen depending on what characters are doing battle with each other. Now that Marvel vs Capcom 3 has been released, much to the joy of fighting fans everywhere, does it stay true to what fans love?
Story:
The story begins with Marvel’s Doctor Doom putting together some of the world’s most dangerous villains with evil intentions in mind. It doesn’t help that Resident Evil’s Albert Wesker is doing the same exact thing and they have formed an alliance among themselves in the hopes of gaining control of everything in both of their respective universes. The rest of the fighters from these worlds aren’t going to just sit around and let that happen though.
But before they can even make a move to intervene, a mysterious and powerful threat has been awoken by the union of the two worlds and is coming to destroy everyone and everything. This means that both heroes and villains must work together from the Marvel and Capcom universe to stop him from destroying their worlds.
Unfortunately the storyline is far from unique and also very soft spoken, meaning that there is barely any mention of this. The opening cut-scene explains most of the plot immediately and besides the ending movies for the character you finish off the final boss with, the story is far from deep. Of course there are some small interactions between characters that recognize one another and say certain phrases when they start the battle or switch out.
While fighting games aren’t usually known for having a stellar story (or any storyline at all occasionally) we have seen quite intuitive storytelling in the past from fighting games and it is unfortunate that MvC3 wasn’t given a better narrative considering the large amount of source material that it could draw upon.
Graphics:
Players will know what they are in for immediately when the game turns on the first time and are presented with a warning that says that the game will contain lots of flashing lights and anyone prone to seizures would have to take special precautions. Especially considering there are times that the player can perform Hyper Combo attack with all three of their fighters and cause plenty of large flashing laser beams and extremely fancy attacks. Beyond that MvC3 features a stylized blend between great looking 3D models and cel-shading that definitely lends a unique look to the fighters
Characters are brightly colored and each appears just as if they were fighting in their very own video game. The most unique feature that I found was the fact that many of the characters still happened to retain certain features that could easily have been passed by, such as Amaterasu having grass and flowers springing to life wherever she steps. If you have heard of the characters fighting then you will know exactly what they look like considering the fact that all of these characters are as true to their original designs as possible.
Audio:
Usually a fighting game wouldn’t be praised for its audio and voicework, but MvC3 is certainly an exception to that rule. First of all, each of the characters in the game has their own theme song which is an extremely nice touch, and plays when you view their artwork or character model. Some of these songs may not be familiar but always are relevant to the character they are attached to, either from a past video game or from their comic book origins. Combine these theme songs with the fast paced and energetic music in the background of each fight and you are in for a blood pumping good time.
Earlier I mentioned the fact that characters often speak to one another if they recognize one another. This is perhaps one of the best features of the dialogue system in the game. There are countless combinations to be had when you select your fighters, and they will interact with one another as you swap them in and out of battle. My favorite so far was when Darkstalker’s Felicia finishes a battle against Ameratsu and says she wants to play with the puppy again. These character interactions are a nice touch, including the fact that you can switch the voice acting between English and Japanese for any character that you want which gives people a chance to change their character interactions just a bit.
Gameplay:
Players will have the opportunity to select between thirty two different fighters with sixteen from each world. There are quite a few new faces to the ranks, plenty of old favorites are returning just the same. Perhaps the loss of some of the more obscure fighters from years gone by was done to make room for the more popular characters of today? But considering MvC 2 had a fighting roster of fifty six different fighters (some similar to one another) it is disheartening to see such a drastic cut in number.
Despite that fact players will be introduced into the game right from the get go. There are a number of modes available for play, such as your standard Arcade Mode where most of your time will be spent, multiplayer where you can do battle with those around the world, and Mission Mode. Now Mission Mode can be seen as an in-depth training mode to help show how to use a specific characters special moves and combo attacks. Each of the thirty two characters has ten different missions of increasing difficulty that will give players a chance to learn their favorite characters both inside and out.
As you enter a real fight you will notice that battles will take place with three man teams each ready to do battle until the finish with one another. A feature that was implemented perhaps to make the game easier to pick up for new players changes the course of battles drastically. The feature I am talking about is the Simple Control scheme mode. This mode changes your entire attack scheme to feature special moves and attacks that would normally require a relatively large amount of button combinations to perform, as well as give players a one-touch Hyper Combo activation button, and even a team Hyper Combo activation button as well.
Now Simple Controls aren’t the end all of the game, due to the fact that despite the ability to perform special attacks on the fly, you are stuck using only certain special moves. Sure you will be able to perform Snap Backs, where you forcibly switch your opponent’s character, and Aerial Team Combos, switching your own character out while continuing a combo attack, as simple as anyone can ask for. The true abilities of the characters still lay within the Normal Mode which allows the full spectrum of attacks to be used which means that despite an easy to enter option; the true heart of the game lays within the complicated combo attacks that fans of the series love.
Another feature added into the game this time around is the X-Factor ability which is activated at any time during a fight by pressing all the attack buttons at one time. This X-Factor is only available once during a fight and will change the face of your fight drastically depending on when you use it. The X-Factor will increase your team’s movement speed, damage output, healing power and makes you resistant to any minor damage. This means that if you are currently on a losing end of a battle, the X-Factor could completely swing things your way.
The reason I mention that the losing end of the battle would be the best time to use it is because the X-Factor appears to be stronger and more effective when players are down to only one fighter. The duration appears to change depending on the fighters that you have left in your arsenal and using it in the beginning of a fight can sometimes be your downfall if your opponent held onto their own last minute. The game changing ability of the X-Factor adds even more strategy to what can be seen as an in-depth fighting game already.
Now despite the additions of the X-Factor and the Simple Control mechanic, MvC 3 will play quite similar to what fans of the series will know and love. There have not been too many changes to the gameplay formula. But thankfully one thing that has changed is the balancing of the games’ fighters. Sure there are still going to be fan favorites and powerhouse fighters but the inclusion of the X-Factor has made it so despite the fact that players may use Dante, Storm and Deadpool to try and take your force out quickly, you always have a trump card.
Now the multiplayer aspect of MvC 3 will give players the chance to do battle in Ranked, Player, and Lobby Matches and unfortunately the Lobby Matches are the scene of a missed opportunity. Players can enter a lobby of up to eight different players from around the world and wait it out to do battle against one another. The main problem of this is the fact that, although you can talk with one another via your microphone, you cannot actually see the fight happening at the time. There is a small display shown on the side showing the fighters’ roster health but that is all. There is a missed opportunity to allow those in the lobby to not be able to view the fight at hand.
Another thing to take notice of is the fact that there is no option to record your previous fights. We’ve all been in a situation where we have either wiped the floor with an opponent or recovered from said floor wiping to get a miracle victory, but unfortunately there is no option to save your fighting prowess to show off to your friends and fellow fighters.
Overall:
Earlier I asked if Marvel vs Capcom 3 would be the game that fans of the series have been waiting for and the answer to that question is yes. There is a remarkably large amount of detail placed inside of the cel-shaded box of MvC 3 and with its revamped character roster, easy entry/hard mastery controls, and new fighting mechanics it is easily one of the best fighting games you can ask for. Despite the fact that there isn’t any storyline worth speaking of, Marvel vs Capcom 3 has a lot to offer in unlockable artwork, character models, and even titles to show off online. With only a few small hiccups in the road, Marvel vs Capcom 3 can go down as a successful continuation of the series.
City Interactive have announced that they have now sold a million copies of the Xbox 360 title, Sniper: Ghost Warrior. This bit of news comes just a month before the Playstation 3 release of the title, and honestly it is a bit of a surprise considering other titles such as Enslaved only sold around half that. Of course, the celebration of success isn’t stopping the developers from looking towards the future, as a sequel is also in the pipeline as well.
Here is an official statement from City Interactive on this bit of news:
“A lot of hard work and dedication by the entire City Interactive team went into the development of Sniper: Ghost Warrior, so we are understandably pleased about the worldwide success of the game,” said Marek Tymiński, CEO of City Interactive. “This success is the perfect backdrop to reveal details about some of the fantastic games that we currently have in our development pipeline, including the sequel to Sniper: Ghost Warrior and a couple of unannounced projects.”
First off, I must say a big congratulations go out to the whole team as Ghost Warrior was a superb offering last year. I think a part of this success was also due to the brilliant timing of release and just the fresh take on the sniper simulation concept, so it goes to show that you don’t have to be Activision or EA to have a mega-hit these days. The PS3 version of Sniper: Ghost Warrior releases on March 22nd of next month, and I am sure we will be hearing of these exciting new “future projects” and continuation on the Ghost Warrior franchise from City Interactive very soon.
Comrade Black is back again and up to his old antics in de Blob 2. A new trailer released today from THQ shows a cheerful look on an uprising against the colorless tyrant that players will experience during the story of the game. de Blob 2 is honestly looking like a nice, refreshing breath of fresh air compared to the much darker titles on consoles we have seen in the past year, so I must say if this title hasn’t been on your radar, it may be time to give this game a second look.
With all of the buzz surrounding de Blob 2, the most interesting thing to myself is how the Playstation Move along with the 3D aspects (which will be on the PS3 AND the Xbox 360 versions) will play into the title itself. You can check out the trailer in full below, and de Blob 2 will release next Tuesday, the 22nd in the states and on the 24th for the AU, and 25 for Europe on the Nintendo DS, Wii, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3.
Four new EPIC screen shots have been released for Batman: Arkham City and they look amazing! The city looks vast and beautiful and character designs and models look great, staying true to the Batman world, and keeping very dark and bad-ass. This place really looks like a hell hole, ready for Batman to clean up by sneaking around in the dark. Batman: Arkham City is the sequel to 2009’s critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum. DC fans can expect to be playing as the dark knight’s latest adventure/stealth game to hit the shelves in the third quarter of this year on PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation3.
Zombies are usually running towards the living to feast on their brains and flesh, but what would a zombie do if a zombie apocalypse failed and there was only one zombie left on earth, and angry humans were chasing it to kill it? Well com2us has an idea-LEG IT!!! in this new iPhone game, players try to outrun humans through a gigantic cemetery in order to survive with many connectivity options competing for high scores.
The highly addictive title saw its release today and is now available for the app store here for $1.29. This game is a lot of fun and you can expect a Capsule Computers review within the next day or two, in the meantime if you’d like an idea of how the game plays without purchasing it, you can check out our exclusive hands-on preview here!
Game: Stacking
Publisher/Developer: THQ/Double Fine Productions
Consoles: Xbox 360 (Reviewed), PS3
Price: 1200 Microsoft Points/$15.00
Genre: Puzzle/Platformer Try the demo orbuy the game here!
Double Fine Productions has a reputation for creating exciting and unique game design ideas. And on top of that, they make these ideas work too. However, Stacking may be the most zany creation that these developers have ever dreamed up. Combining matryoshka dolls, lovable characters and intense puzzle solving, the game is awesome. That is undeniable. But, is it worth the price of admission? What the hell is a matryoshka anyway?
Story
Matryoshka, or Russian nesting dolls, are those little wooden toys that stack inside of another. When a family of these dolls become embroiled in economic poverty, the father and children are kidnapped and forced into slavish labor. One child is left though. Little Charlie Blackmore is so small that he escapes these horrid circumstances and goes on a mission of love & rescue.
I have to admit that, at first, I was expecting a more light hearted story. Although the team behind the game has delved into heavier fare like kidnapping before, the presentation of the game and the way the story was thrown at me was a bit of a shocker. After all, the game starts out with a loving family gathered around their papa. A joke is told. BAM! Dad leaves; children kidnapped; Charlie leaves on suicide mission. Other than this abrupt change in the circumstance,the story is actually quite good.
The story is presented like an old fashioned silent film. The film is grainy, neutrally colored and makes for an atmosphere that really makes the darkened mood set in. It is also interesting how attached I got to these characters, even though their mouths did not move. The animations that accompany each character’s words accentuate the feelings that they are expressing. It was not hard at all to identify with their sentiments.
Gameplay
As you can imagine, the best part about Stacking is the gameplay. In order to reach your family and get them home safely, you must complete various challenges and puzzles. All the characters have different specialized moves. For example, one man can unlock doors. Another will fart loudly. Some women sip tea; while others seduce guards.
Since you are playing as the smallest doll of all, you can stack inside any of these dolls. No, really. You can literally hop inside a doll. The only restriction is that the new doll must be one bigger than you are at the present moment. Once inside the new person, you control this man or woman’s actions and use their powers to finish the levels. You can stack many people on top of each other and larger sizes are unlocked as you play along. Unstacking can be just as crucial to your success too.
If you are just playing to get the through the game, it will probably only take 6 or 7 hours. But, the challenges in the game can solved in a variety of ways and will make the game at least twice as long. Finding each doll and then figuring out ways to use their gifts to solve a specific challenge is very rewarding. The only complaint I have with this gameplay element is that it often leads to a lot of backtracking. Therefore, I recommend that you don’t try to complete all the puzzles in the each level on your first playthrough.
Of course, you can also try to find all the collectible dolls in each level and you can even find new families of dolls, and bring them together. There are also a plethora of of side objectives to complete.
Audio
The rollicking ragtime soundtrack in the game fits the tone of the silent film/vaudeville style game perfectly. Piano music is a genre of music that does not often get picked to play in a video game; Stacking’s implementation of this type of music is a bold move that brings even more originality to the game.
A lack of voice acting does kill some of the charm though. Adorable gibberish does not count as a language! I want to find out what a tiny wooden doll sounds like! This deficiency of audio also makes watching each cut scene at least twice as long as it should be.
Graphics
Stacking’s graphical style is very interesting. On hand, I hate it. On the other hand, it is also an artistic masterpiece. Each cylindrical body & face is exquisitely detailed. They each have their own unique trademarks and look like realistic matryoshka dolls. However, stale backgrounds are no fun to walk around in. Most of the time, all the walls are blank. At the same time though, the bland environments also bring out the skillful use of colors that the artists used in the game. Sections of the game that do play pivotal roles in the game have areas that can be explored, but it would be nice for a lot more of the game to have some artwork or something.
Overview
Stacking is one of kind. It is intrinsically awesome and an experience that you will not regret playing through. Paying $15.00 for Stacking is a little bit pricey, but I would not be disappointed to give my money for this great video game. After all, there are only a few minor problems with this game.
All in all, the slow cut scenes, annoying backgrounds and backtracking nature of the extra challenges can be solved by simply enjoying the fine workmanship of how each puzzle is so well constructed.
Have you only just managed to get the Ghostbusters theme out of your head after playing the retail game a couple years ago? Well, prepare to be singing it for another year yet!
Atari have released more enticing screenshots for the upcoming digital release, Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime. Since it was announced in December, a steady stream of images have been released, with the latest here showing some epic battles.
Details are a little scarce, but what we do know is it will be a downloadable title on the Playstation Network, Xbox Live Arcade and PC, it will be four-player co-op, on the same machine or online, and it will be available in the vague window of “Spring 2011”. For us Southerners, that means March, April or May.
One small cause for concern – apparently, the original cast is not involved this time. The player characters are rookies, which worked in the 2009 retail game, because it kept the banter and relationships between the main characters intact. This time, with four rookies and no Venkman, much of the charm of the franchise may be lost. But, we’ll have to wait and see. At least, it’ll tide fans over until Ghostbusters 3 hits cinemas next year (hopefully!)
