When Lara Croft first bounced onto computer screens back in 1996, she was the embodiment of the perfect woman.
As 2011 approached, the developers at Crystal Dynamics decided to give Lara a look overhaul. It might have been a stupid decision or a brilliant one as the new sex symbol is unveiled to a new world of possible judgment and stubborn fans when the game Lara Croft and the guardian of Light is released in 2011.
With softer features, blond ash hair and almost tomboyish figure, Miss Craft has a lot of explaining to do.
But Lara isn’t the first character to be given a makeover. Cole MacGrath from the Infamous series had multiple changes made for the sequel, hoping to give new life to the protagonist. As fan’s negative reactions to the new look shadowed the release, the developers at Sucker Punch had no choice but to change Cole to a look more similar to the original design.
Dante from the Devil May Cry series had always maintained his look of snow white hair and bad ass attitude since his conception in 2001 but the developers at Ninja Theory took a huge risk in giving him a new look for a series that was failing. The fifth game, DMC Devil May Cry, which is to hit the market later this year, will involve a more modernized, westernized version of the favourite hero.
Images have been released of a younger, almost ‘emo’ inspired Dante, looking worse for wear. Already, Ninja Theory has been branded with a scarlet letter as devoted fans shunned the new Dante but the developers and publisher Capcom hope to attract new fans of the game.
Even though his face wasn’t unveiled until the very end of the game, Isaac Clarke from Dead Space was an unsung hero and an unlikely candidate for sex symbol status. Aged in his early 40s, fans loved Isaac’s slow, inhibited movements and devoted love for his doomed girlfriend Nicole.
At the end of the game, Isaac removes his helmet to reveal a tired, battered, heartbroken man. He wasn’t good looking or was never going to be a heartthrob but it was his devotion and loyalty to Nicole which won hearts.
Dead Space 2 is soon to be released on January 27th in Australia (25th January for USA) and with images and trailers disclosed to blood thirsty fans; Isaac’s look appears to be altered. His greying hair has been replaced and his etched face has reversed in time to reveal a younger, attractive man.
How wise is it when developers chose to change the look of a beloved video game character? As a new look may freshen and breathe new life into a character, sometimes it is best to leave it alone as less is always more. As competition grows, we as players are more likely to see our favourite men and women change to keep up with the times. It is our job to remain loyal and keep their legacies alive.
Earth Defense Force Publisher: DotEmu Developer: DotEmu Platform:iPhone (reviewed)/ iPod Touch Genre: Shooter Release Date: January 14, 2011 Price: $2.49
Anyone who remembers the classic 16-bit days of gaming in the early 90s or Shoot ’em ups will get a kick out of Earth Defense Force, an iPhone remake of the original 90s SNES game. Aliens have invaded earth and it’s up to you to defeat them. Much of this game has been tweaked from the SNES original which may distance the purest out there, but those looking for a good shooter and old school nostalgia will be pleased here.
Presentation
The game is very much an arcade shooter, even the menu screen a mock up of arcade system. The game provides two game modes, Freeplay and Arcade to play though six stages. Freeplay is a “training mode” players are given unlimited health to blast through the levels, great for those on-the-go and short gaming sessions. However in freeplay, player progress is not tracked and to unlock new levels and weapons players must play though the very challenging arcade mode, and I mean “very challenging” this game gets very hard in the later stages. Players are only given two credits to play through the entire game, luckily however each time you unlock a new stage you can start from that point. There are a number of major game-breaking glitches in this game, from time to time the game freezes midway through a boss battle and most annoying, the game will freeze if you have more than one finger on the screen when pressing the continue button after you die. This caused much frustration, exiting and re-entering the game. Hopefully an update will be released soon to fix these issues.
Gameplay
This game can get very frustrating in later levels as it gets very hard due to a very steep learning curve, which I guess is why the developer included Freeplay mode. Earth Defense Force is a retro shooter which requires many play throughs just to memories enemy wave patterns along with trying to get the highest score on the leaderboard. The game requires players to both shoot and dodge bullets, this makes up the core of the gameplay of the six stages with an added boss fight at the end of each stage. Players are rewarded for their efforts by unlock new stages and weapons. Players should experiment with the different weapons as each plays very differently from one another. As players progress through the game, their weapons level up becoming more powerful and gaining a different firing mode. Switching through the firing modes can give players the advantage and additional manoeuvrability to dodge incoming bullets. Thankfully, the game offers auto-firing as part of its default control, which may be turned off if the player chooses to. Controls are smooth and work well in manuring your ship which is so vital to the game.
Graphic and Audio
Earth Defense Force retains its retro look and feel, which is great. The 16-bit graphics and audio are a great through back to the classic of the 90s. The soundtrack brings back a lot of memories from that gaming era. The soundtrack itself is worth the price of admission, its very 90s techno, electronic and unmistakably retro with each level packing its very own unique level music. The graphics and animations themselves look very smooth, retaining that retro feel without slowdown. You’ll be fighting some very inanes looking robotic bosses and super alien ships across the game’s six stages.
Overall
Earth Defense Force is good, that is when it works. The retro shooting is fun, mixed in the dodging and a great classic soundtrack. However it’s unfortunate that a few major game braking glitches brings down the entire experience, freezing because you had more than one finger touching the screen when pressing continue. Asides from this, Earth Defence Force is a nice through back to the classic 16-bit era of gaming with its graphics and soundtrack. It isn’t perfect but Earth Defence Force is still very much playable and is definitely worth checking out for those who love a challenge or just like retro gaming.
I give Earth Defense Force for the iPhone and iPod Touch:
DC Universe Online
Developer(s) Sony Online Entertainment – Austin
Publisher(s) Sony Online Entertainment Platform(s) PlayStation 3, PC (reviewed) Release date(s) Jan 11, 2011 (US) Genre(s) MMO Mode(s) Multi-player Online only Rating(s) ESRB: T Difficulty: Medium Rare
DC Comics and Sony Online Entertainment decided to take a crack at the lucrative MMO market in 2008, and it was a rather large crack at that with a budget of 50 million and alot seems to be riding on the games success, especially in the mostly untapped console MMO market. In my eyes, it’s unfair to compare the game to the beast that is World of Warcraft, even though it can’t be helped. WoW launched 6 years ago and is a very different game today to what it was around launch thanks to updates and expansions, which ultimately enhanced the games playability. DC Universe obviously has issues; you’d know this if you played the BETA, but it’s shortcomings might be fixed in the future. The core of the game is an enjoyable beat em’ up and the pace is a breath of fresh air in the MMO market, it’s certainly a game worthy of your consideration.
“That’s a HUUUGE B***CH”
Story
The narrative is set in the present day, but the apocalyptic introduction between Heroes vs. Villains is set in the future, where Superman is (hilariously) killed by Lex Luthor only for Brianic to emerge from the skies with an epic war fleet. Everyone craps their pants and perspective changes to a scene with Lex Luthor explaining the story to present day Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Luthor has traveled through time and is trying to warn present day heroes to prevent the war happening again and Brainiac ultimately coming out on top, he wants to prepare for Brainiac’s arrival by giving powers to the public. In order to do this, Luthor stole something called “exobytes” from Brainiac’s mother ship, which Brainiac was already using on earth to slowly steal energy from heroes, hence Luthor’s ability to kill Superman from he’s time and effectively destroy the Justice League. It’s basically a mouthful with the words steal and stolen coming up alot, I admit the first time it was a little confusing wrapping my head around this, but it’s a nice way of putting character creation into context and making you feel apart of the world.
After Luthor explains himself and the fact that he’s made the general public powerful, Batman basically says “ITS A TRAP!” and it’s on like Donkey Kong. Luthor implores the Justice League to train the newly created heroes called “metahumans” because in the future he has failed and was the only survivor of Brainiac’s earth purging. We must make up for Luthor’s failures is basically what Luthor is asking, for some reason he doesn’t want the world to end, maybe because he wants the power himself? Now if you’re a fan of DC comics you’ll be happy with the amount of notable characters thrown into the mix throughout the game, including comic style cut scenes after you defeat mini-bosses explaining their back-story and the like. It’s pretty cool initially but for the less enthusiastic comic fans, such as myself, the loot waiting to be rolled for took priority and ended with quite a few cut-scenes being skipped. When you know a cut-scene is coming at every boss, but you don’t know what loot is coming, I couldn’t help myself.
What does this say about the story? Is it non-existent? Not necessarily, their merely using the DC branding to justify certain missions and grinding involved in the game. The fast paced nature of the combat works against itself though, you’re moving so quickly through levels and quests that the story can feel somewhat shallow and easily be dismissed. But the characters involved make up for the easy to ignore plot points, having icons like the Joker or Batman guide you through quests with voice over’s is cool enough for the non-hardcore fans and I think this is what SOE was betting on. As far as I’m concerned, if people want to role-play and really delve into the world without a detailed story, they’re going to do it anyway because the believable world is good enough.
Comic book characters and heroes/villains are all about their duality and “other life”, and if you’re looking for this kind of depth in a story based around the concept of an MMO, you’ll be foolishly disappointed. Obviously DC Universe doesn’t stay true to this theory, as the environment around you is basically NPC’s to kill and a city in chaos, due to all the new people with powers. You could say that the duality of the heroes/villains is the character you’ve created and yourself living out real life when you’re not playing. But that is being too literal perhaps; the game still makes good use of its fantasy theme, especially with already established characters and cut-scenes that explain back-story. All the cities and locations are accurately recreated with infamous monuments looking great, which suck you into the DC world. What more can you ask for? As I said, it isn’t the deepest or greatest story as far as MMO’s go, but the developers have made a world which is immersive and accurate in terms of it’s branding. It’s just enough to compensate for the sometimes-shallow story, which suffers from the fast paced nature of the game.
“Leeching off some noobs”
Gameplay
Rinse and repeat, such is the repetitive nature of hack and slash combat, it’s no different here and if mindless killing doesn’t appeal to you look elsewhere. This is somewhat dampened by the mix of powers and movement type at your disposal, such as flying, super-speed and acrobatics. As such, traveling through the world is never a drag and the player at the creation screen dictates movement type. Speaking of which, this has slightly changed since the beta and had a few things taken out. Whether or not they’ll be missed is up to personal taste, but I didn’t notice anything significant missing. There’s been a mixed response to the character creation process, but to be honest it’s irrelevant because the possible changes available throughout the game are really the appeal in DC Universe, your initial hero or villain vastly changes. This could be said of many MMO’s, but DC Universe goes the extra mile with collecting every style of gear you touch without compromising stats, the wealth of options is impressive. In addition, facial and hair appearance can be changed later on if you so desire, end-game gear also does it’s job of looking how it should, like it’s the pinnacle of what’s available in game.
In terms of leveling and questing, it’s a fairly quick process and shouldn’t take too long to hit the cap. This takes the long grinding out of the equation, but is it an enjoyable ride? Well there’s alot of fetch quests, that’s for sure, and the only unique quests lie in the mini bosses or alert based instances. There are other variations in fetch questing, such as protect this NPC, while other NPC’s attack and quests that involve throwing objects. However the most fun I had was once instance where I played as a Gorilla and basically whacked the crap out of all NPC’s til the boss, which was also a highlight because the boss required taking on two at once. I would like to see more quests involving transforming, vehicles or group based teamwork, rather than the simple type “Kill this token NPC” and receive hacks loot (i.e. Bizzaro). But the majority of leveling was an enjoyable experience, even if it felt too easy at times; the Action RPG combat and animations are a joy to perform.
“It looks pretty, but looks can be deceiving, much like your first girlfriend”
I played through the entire BETA with a keyboard and mouse, since the game released I’ve been playing on and off with a PS3 Control connected through USB. Its fairly obvious DC Universe was designed with the controller in mind, rather than the other way around, and in my experience the controller feels better. It’s likely that purists of the keyboard and mouse will dislike the nature of holding down mouse clicks to perform combos, and it’s understandable, but I didn’t find it unplayable at all.
Once you hit 30 things are thrown up a notch in difficulty, especially if your group members don’t know their specific role, which the game doesn’t explain overly well. This wouldn’t be so bad, except for the fact that some people didn’t even know how to change stances, now that isn’t right. Speaking of classes, they’re split into three types, tank, healer and controller. There’s no purely damage-based class, rather everyone has the ability to deal damage by switching stances (only out of combat though). Therefore players need to decide which stance to select before battling, only later on in the game does strategy come into play, depending on the difficulty and the amount of players you have ofcourse. It’s quite possible if you have good players and decent gear to group with the less than required amount to finish a boss. If you implement the strategy of blocking and rolling to avoid bosses big attacks, while performing your class roles, you can successfully three man certain bosses. It’s these sorts of setups when DC Universe becomes the most enjoyable and challenging, sure there are some hit issues due to lag, but it isn’t game breaking by any means. You just have to find the right players to have the most fun, and like any other MMO starting out, this can be a challenge.
Combination’s have a counter as you attack like a beat em up’, and the more combos you stacks the more likely you are to critical hit. It also relies on the powers you use in between physical attacks, for example starting out with a magical attack then using your weapon is more likely to crit then simply button mashing. The same goes with the stuns available, if you don’t know how to use them or avoid them by blocking and rolling, especially in PvP, you’re doomed to an embarrassing death. PvP currently offers a range of modes, the arenas include three areas such as Area 51 with game types like capture the flag, this is mainly gear based PvP. Then there’s Legends PvP, which lets you play iconic characters such as Batman, Robin etc and practice your skills to prepare for later. Then there’s the obvious World PvP, but it seems alot of people are rolling PvE servers, which doesn’t make sense to me.
“I’ll catch that targeting circle, even if it’s the last thing I do!”
PvP is more or less about stuns, blocking and rolling. Once you’ve got the hang of out it, it becomes more enjoyable and different classes cement their style. Right now for me the hardest roles to beat are fire and nature specs. Fire is basically the tank that dots and stuns, which is hard to manage; especially with your health slowly dwindling and you’re being kited. And nature spec is like a druid, (duh) healing and tanking all in one. Also players who chose flying tend to have an advantage in World PvP, especially if they’re being beaten and decide to leg it, which can be very frustrating. But despite these minor issues, PvP is an enjoyable romp, it’s fast paced and action oriented. Not many MMO’s offer this type of gameplay, and DC Universe does it well to a degree. There are issues with performance and targeting, it’s quite easy to accidentally launch at the wrong target amongst the action, or become stuck swinging in the air. It seems this is due to leaving movement on super-speed, which is currently causing them game some issues. For example if i type /dance and immediately turn on super speed, my whole PC has crashed a few times, and it’s this sort of thing that feels like of polish throughout the game.
In terms of raid content and instances, these issues and overall lack of polish is less apparent. It’s likely that future updates will fix some of the issues, but when the actual game released it was more buggy than the BETA, which is strange. I’ve had more problems with performance and crashing than the BETA, everyone cried wolf when the release date was announced for January because of BETA issues. How do the developers think people will react now that the game is out, with more issues than the already buggy BETA? Well it’s interesting that they released this month, that’s for sure, BETA testing is supposed to iron out problems not create more. The developers have alot of work ahead of them; it hasn’t been a smooth launch by any means.
Overall despite issues such as performance, a lack of tutorials in game and the sometimes buggy combat. DC Universe Online is a thoroughly enjoyable game and has a unique place in the market, more so in terms of combat than anything else. At times it can feel like a generic copy of other MMO concepts with the DC branding simply slapped on, but no comic enthusiast will have a problem with that. It’s still enjoyable questing, PvPing and socializing in a different world with fast paced combat. The current end-game content will keep players going for a while as well, cause the challenge is there, until more is released ofcourse. Hopefully with patches DC Universe Online will evolve into an even more playable action RPG, which is the main appeal, alongside it’s DC branding. Right now it’s just another MMO starting out with potential, and like many others at their launch it’s tip toeing a fine line between populating or diminishing in a few months time. It would be a shame to see failure, because it’s been quite an enjoyable ride.
“Harley likes it from behind…?”
Graphics/Sound
DC Universe Online runs on the unreal engine and depending on your set-up, you may have performance issues. My set up had issues, which resulted in having to turn settings down, although this wasn’t so apparent during the BETA. But the overall game is impressive in the scale of things, running, flying or leaping through the cities at super-speed is a joy and environments are fairly detailed. Combat animations are fluid and their style mimics that of the DC universe, for example the Joker and Batman animate in a familiar way, which is indicative of their character. All the models are also keeping with the style, except for maybe Wonder Woman, which I didn’t think would be so badass/sexy. There are some minor bugs with animations and holding your weapon, such as the weapon disappearing but your character still in the attacking position. Also running, leaping and flying at super speeds through the cities can be cause for concern. You’ll see pop in that’s for sure, but the more worrying issue is latency. It’s expected given how fast you’re traveling, but hopefully this can be alleviated in future, cause it’s one of the highlights of the game.
Other than that and some UI issues with performance, it’s a wonderful looking game. I dare you to run on shiny looking water like Jesus and not be impressed. The effects produced by your powers are a delight to watch as well, they’re colorful, vibrant and suite the destructive nature of the game. Objects can be picked up and thrown and some are destroyable. One of my favorites would have to be accidentally hitting a car while attacking and watching it fling away, along to watch it land on an NPC minding their own business. Another note-worthy effect is the landing animation from a high distance; it results in your character smashing into the ground leaving a crater, which is satisfying. DC Universe had to get this part of the game right, and other than the teething issues, they’re on the money.
It sounds right as well, all the right voice actors are on board and having someone like the Joker guide you through a quest is effective. You can tell SOE tried to make it as authentic to its origins as possible, and they’ve succeeded for the most part. Some of the music is hit and miss, especially in the clubs, which is forgettable. But the sound effects are executed nicely in combat, more so than NPC’s and their banter. One-liners such a “Hey Face, Meet fist!” are funny at first, but can get annoying after awhile. Voice chat in game has issues for the moment; you’re better to use other means, such as vent or steam. It has the tendency to drop out or not work at all, which is ofcourse frustrating given that it worked better in the BETA. Issues aside, you wont be disappointed with the Iconic DC characters, however the soundtrack may be a different story depending on your taste.
“Being dealt with, to put it nicely”
Overall
Is it worth it? It’s hard to say with issues right off the bat, but hey, every MMO has complex launch issues. It’s no excuse, but it’s a highly enjoyable game that has comic book fans raving. What It doesn’t have is the deepest combat system, the smoothest performance or the greatest questing system. What it does have is addictive gameplay, a rewarding system of gear and a wealth of options for customizing your hero. Throw in the DC Universe and you’ve got some serious fan service, for the non-fans and someone just looking an MMO, it comes recommended. I’m not a massive fan of comic books, but I still managed to enjoy it. The gameplay has a casual streak to it with just enough content to make the monthly cost justifiable, “just enough” being the keyword here. It doesn’t come recommended to the hardcore or theory craft types, or someone looking for a WoW killer, but it’s definitely an alternative offering fast-paced fun in the somewhat slow MMO market.
Pros
What would you call this gameplay? Action RPG, Beat em up’ or Hack and Slash with an MMO. Something like that, yeh… It’s fun
A good system of handling customization and gear
Pretty authentic DC Branding, it really does help the raids and instances
Cons
Performance issues and bugs
Not the most original questing and lack of tutorials
Amount of content vs. cost right now is questionable, but no doubt more will come
Fans of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood can now rejoice as a the new Animus Project Update 2.0 DLC is now out for the PS3 & Xbox 360 versions of the game. This DLC will come with a brand new mode as well as a new map for multiplayer and the details are quite intriguing.
The map that comes with the new DLC is the Pienza Map which will be a free-running playground where predators and targets can blend and disappear.
The most interesting new feature to come with this update though is the new Chest Capture Multiplayer Mode, where two teamsof three players each, partner with fellow Templars to either defend or capture Chests. The “Capturers” must use their HUDs to locate and capture the chests, while “Defenders” must use their skills and quick reflexes to track down their foes and protect the chests.
Also included in this update is a new leaderboard system referred to as the “Templar Score” feature which will be updated weekly and based on the users scores of the previous four weeks.
All of this content is all available for the low price of free on both the Xbox 360 & PS3, so owners of this game should get this update on their queue and get to stalking the streets yet again. Check out the new trailer for this update below and to keep up to date on the latest news and updates, visit the game’s official web site at http://assassinscreed.uk.ubi.com/brotherhood/ , via Twitter @AssassinsCreed and Facebook at facebook.com/assassinscreed.
If you have been looking for some new content for DJ Hero 2, you are in luck as Activision have released some brand new DLC today for the DJ sim and with some big named mixers to boot. The new Trance Anthems Mix Pack is now out and features music from dance music icons such as Paul Oakenfold, Paul van Dyk and Armin van Buuren.
The three tracks in the Trance Anthems Mix Pack will be:
“Imagine” by Armin van Buuren Mixed With “Punk” by Ferry Corsten
“Not Over” by Paul Oakenfold ft. Ryan Tedder (Remix by FSG)
“9PM (Till I Come)” by ATB Mixed With “For An Angel” by Paul van Dyk
The Trance Anthem Mix Pack is available now on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 640 Microsoft Points, the PSN for $6.29 and as downloadable singles for300 Wii Points on the Nintendo Wii.
It is good to see more DLC for DJ Hero as I for one like the game and I do feel that DJ Hero 2 deserves more than the handful of track packs it has gotten since it’s release. The good news is however that the library of music is starting to pick up in the new year and hopefully it will grow even bigger as the year continues.
Continuing with our coverage for Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds comes more news about new character reveals. This week Capcom revealed that Akuma from the Street Fighter series as well as the villainous Taskmaster from the Marvel universe. This news is especially exciting as I felt the game could use some more villains and while I think everybody expected Akuma, both should be heavily popular among fans of the series.
Of course with all this news is yet a bunch more screenshots (which you can check out below) as well as two more character introduction videos. I am literally boiling over just waiting to get my hands on this game, as I am sure many of you are as well but the wait to “be taken for a ride” will soon be over when Marvel vs Capcom 3 hits stores on February 15th. Check out the new clips and imagery below and in the comments section, let us know which characters you will be battling it out with once the game releases.
While these character reveals may be soon coming to an end, stay tuned as I have a feeling Capcom will be releasing even more information over the coming weeks.
With the 3DS starting to get quite a line-up from Nintendo already, it was only a matter of time before more third-party developers start creating titles for the new portable. Majesco have now threw their hat into the mix with the announcement that they will be publishing two titles for the Nintendo 3DS. The first game announced is Face Kart: Photo Finish which will be a kart racer with the ability to take a photo of the player and put it onto their avatars for their custom 3D racers, billboards and power-ups. This one sounds to me like a blend of Face Pilot (which came out for the DSi last year) and Mario Kart and sounds pretty interesting.
Next up is for all those gamers out there that enjoy raising animals…dead animals anyway. Pet Zombies in 3D lets players reanimate their very own zombies with a range of customizations and then care for (or torment) their pets as they play with them in creepy 3D environments.
Of course with this announcement comes quite a few details on both of these titles comes even more information for each listing both as follows:
Developed by 1st Playable Productions, Pet Zombies in 3D lets players raise their very own decaying human pets by managing their special dietary preferences (brains and the like), bodily maintenance (or lack thereof) and morbid activities needed to keep them happily undead. Players can choose to play with, care for, or even mischievously torment their zombies in creepy locations like cemeteries, evacuated malls or rundown military bases. Each 3D environment is customizable with mix-and-match objects, themed backdrops and even music to best fit each pet zombie’s personality and tastes. Throughout the game, players can discover new zombies to add to their horde and customize them with facial bone deformations, variable decay, clothing and unlockable items. Players will also use the Nintendo 3DS accelerometer controls in various activities, including rolling zombie heads through mazes, and can earn trophies and in-game currency to spend in the Zombie Pet Shop.
Developed by Renegade Kid, Face Kart: Photo Finish lets players tilt and turn the Nintendo 3DS to steer their photo customized speedsters through 20 unique race tracks, as they drift around corners, soar over chasms and speed past the competition. Players use the Nintendo 3DS camera to snap their own picture and then map it onto their avatar, the landscape or even a turbo boost so they can pick up their very own power-ups as they race. Each avatar offers up to one hundred choices in hair, clothing and eyewear, plus cars can also be customized by tuning and tweaking to create the ultimate personalized racer.
I can easily say both have my interest, especially Face Kart: Photo Finish as I am a big fan of Renegade Kid (creators of Dementium 1 & 2 for the DS) and it is great to see such a strong presence of titles being announced this early on. As of now, the only thing we really know about a date is that both will be hitting shelves this fall but as that date grows closer and more news drops, we will be sure to bring it to all of you. I am sure this is just the start for Majesco’s line-up for the 3DS so you can bet that more announcements are sure to come in the future as well.
It seems the release date of Conduit 2 in the USA has slipped from its originally planned 15th February distribution to a slightly disappointing new release date of 22nd March, over 1 month after the initially scheduled launch.
Meanwhile, the European release date has been detailed as 18th March, which as you will notice is earlier than the American release – ironic considering if the release hadn’t slipped it would have been in North America a whole before it showed up in Europe and the UK. Moreover, Australia and New Zealand are getting a further day earlier, on 17th March.
In an attempt to soften the blow for US residents, and at the same time whet everyone’s appetites for this Wii shooter shortly before it’s released, SEGA have uploaded a ‘Weapons Trailer’ for the game.
Perhaps looking to take the award for the most D’s in a title Square Enix has revealed the full name of their upcoming 3DS game revolving around Kingdom Hearts. Titled Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, KH3DDDD, so there we have it. But besides this announcement they have also released a trailer which shows off some very hectic battle scenes and fast paced actions.
We see both Sora and Riku controllable during this trailer and a number of recognizable icons both from Disney and Square Enix. There has yet to be any announcement unfortunately for KH3DDDD outside of Japan however, but considering every release of a Kingdom Hearts game has been making its way to the West so far it is easy to assume that this one will as well.
Earlier today Square Enix revealed that the game previously called Final Fantasy Agito XIII would instead be called Final Fantasy Type-0. No actual reasoning was given for the change in the name but it could be that they thought that too many different XIII games were in development and consumers would mix them up, considering we have FFXIII-2 and FFVXIII announced already.
A trailer was also released during this announcement and shows some great PSP gameplay for the action RPG. The game rings of Crisis Core gameplay and takes place in the Fabula Nova Crystalis world. You can catch the trailer below and also catch the announcement of a release window at the end of the trailer, which places the game within a Japanese release date during Summer of this year, with a hopeful Western release later.
