With all the goings on or I should say down with the Playstation Network people maybe more leery to use their credit or debit cards with any of the online gaming services. With this new update from Microsoft Xbox Live users can have a much safer alternative when buying stuff on the marketplace. On Major Nelson’s blog today he states that in the new update users in certain countries will have the ability to use their PayPal accounts to purchase Microsoft Points, Xbox Live subscriptions, and even on demand titles. All you will need to do is to link it to your account by accessing it in the billing options menu.
Paypal support is not the only feature in this update as there will be a feature where the system will go to standby mode if left idle for more than an hour and support for the new disk format that Microsoft recently had been testing. The updates will start releasing today however the update will take a couple of weeks before the whole world can have access to it. PayPal has been regarded as one of the safest and most reliable payment methods on the web and I for one hope the Playstation Store does this so that way I don’t have to pull my card out and type in all those numbers with a controller.
As has happened before with the coinciding release of big titles and new system FW or updates, there are inevitably some users who experience difficulties. In this case the game happens to be Rockstar games masterpiece LA Noire, with latest reports indicating overheating and freezing issues originally only on the PS3 but now spreading to the Xbox 360. Via a post on their official website, Rockstar games originally laid the blame on Sony’s shoulders stating that responsibility for the issue was directly related to the new FW 3.61 rolled out with the re-launch of PSN. According to their own tests, both LA Noire and other titles were experiencing difficulties with freezing and overheating on the new firmware, a statement which has since been retracted by the company.
Sony have confirmed zero issues with their new FW and state “As with the release of any System Update, we will invariably see a very small number of users whose console has failed following updating their console, which is an unfortunate coincidence,” Sony said. “Rockstar have now updated their FAQ on the matter, have admitted that it is a fault with their latest title L.A. Noire and have offered a workaround.” There seems to much talk of a patch ready for the PS3 release.
Sony are also very quick to clear up that it is not isolated to the PS3 and Rockstar games have added a troubleshooting guide for Xbox360 owners as well as PS3 users. Both systems have recently received mandatory updates to address security issues and implement user features like PayPal. Microsoft are apparently also offering its European users a free 250Gb replacement console plus 1 years free Live subscription should their consoles be bricked by the new dashboard.
Despite being able to contact Rockstar games regarding the issue, both companies are denying responsibility via a joint statement. As with most of these issues it’s probably a very small number of users who in this case seem like they will be well compensated for any bricked consoles.
Rockstar has decided to make it official that they will be releasing downloadable cases in the future. Previously this content was leaked by Best Buy when they gave out codes for the case at the midnight launch for the title. But either way Rockstar has announced that the Nicholson Electroplating Arson Case will be launched on June 21st for download.
Team Bondi has stated that there will be more downloadable cases revealed in the future, including entirely new crime desks. There has yet to be a release date given for other content in the future nor was a price detailed, but I can tell you one thing. I’ll be picking up every bit of extra cases I can to extend my L.A. Noire playtime. How about you?
Bad news for anyone that is looking forward to Platinum Games’ next action packed title Anarchy Reigns, the game has been pushed back until next year. Previously set for a release in late 2011 the title has now been delayed until at least January 2012. This news comes out of the game’s Japanese website and although there was no reason given for the delay, past Platinum Games games were delayed for various reasons such as competition in the past.
Sega of America hasn’t made any actual announcement about this delay yet but with one territory already saying there will be a delay it will usually end up causing a delay globally. Especially when that territory is the country that the game is being developed in. We’ll let you know once we find out more.
With the release of Bethesda’s Honest Hearts DLC for Fallout: New Vegas also comes a release of a new problem for owners of the title. Bethesda has received a number of complaints from users who have downloaded Honest Hearts but have been unable to actually activate the DLC content which is obtained by receiving a radio message.
Bethesda is currently working on a patch to fix this issue but it may be irreparable on certain save files. The problem itself seems to come from an existing glitch that revolves around the companion quest “E-DE, My Love.” This quest has a number of problems already and can cause many events to not occur during normal gameplay. If your save file has any of these glitches related to E-DE’s quest then you may not be able to access Honest Hearts without starting over from the beginning.
Bethesda stated in a blog post that they ” aware of the issue and are working on a fix for the next patch” and also that “if you already have a save game where the bug is occurring, the fix will not apply and you’ll need to revert to an earlier save prior to ED-E leaving in order to play through Honest Hearts.” This is truly a bad sign for players who wanted to do a 100% completion file with all of their companions, especially since it is a glitch that has been around for quite some time. We will have our review for Honest Hearts coming in the next few days if this glitch won’t affect you at all and are wondering whether or not you should pick it up.
With everyone sitting around waiting to hear about the next big Call of Duty game, Activision is taking their time and enjoying people’s various guesses and anticipation for Modern Warfare 3. So much so that they have decided to post up a little notification on their Facebook page saying that the game’s world premiere would be set for May 23rd during “game 4 of the Western Conference Finals on ESPN.”
It seems like it is certainly an odd time to choose to reveal your next big game but Activision is certainly capitalizing on the amount of people that will be watching the game. At least this means that next Monday you should be tuning into ESPN to catch the game’s reveal. Or you could check back here shortly afterwords as I’m sure the internet will be exploding by then.
In a letter to developers and publishers Sony has stated they are planning to relaunch the PlayStation Store on May 24th, next Tuesday. The letter obtained by Gamasutra is written by PSN content manager Jack Osorno who says that they will be planning to update the Store twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays for the next two weeks to help make up for the delay in release for a number of titles because of the outage.
If a company has any problems with the release schedule, Sony is “willing to consider adjusting the release date of your content on this schedule.” The letter did not include the launch date for the “Customer Appreciation Program” (Welcome Back program) but says that the two free games will be made available soon after the PS Store is back online. This is good news for everyone waiting to purchase something from the PlayStation Store, or redeem a code for a game that they are going crazy waiting to play for the past few weeks.
As expected, a follow up game to 2010’s LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 has today been announced by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, TT Games and the LEGO Group entitled (unsurprisingly) ‘LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7’. The game, based around the last three Harry Potter books and films will follow the same LEGO family friendly gameplay. So expect the same magical gameplay, lessons and potion-making skills. New locations added into the game will include Grimmauld Place, the Ministry of Magic, and Godric’s Hollow along with new challenges, spells, puzzles and enemies. Not to mention, the highly anticipated final showdown with ‘He Who Must Not Be Named’…Lord Voldemort.
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 will be available for Xbox 360, Playstion 3, Wii, PC, PSP, DS, 3DS and the future NGP expected to be released later this year (Q4, 2011).
Whilst the excitement for the new Modern Warfare 3 is palpable, gaming retailer EB Games have announced upon preordering, gamers can receive an exclusive MW3 poster featuring the recently released image of the soldier among a white background as well as an actual TIME magazine cover on the back.
Also, a source close to Infinity Ward has revealed the proposed storyline for the 8th instalment. Is is yet to be confirmed by Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer, but rumours running rife around the internet say the plot is pretty much close to the actual players will experience.
The following storyline is below:
“Modern Warfare 3 opens as Modern Warfare 2 closed: The United States under siege by Russian forces, ultranationalist Vladimir Makarov on the loose, Captain John “Soap” MacTavish and Captain John Price wounded and on the run with the Russian informant known as Nikolai.
Fleeing to a safehouse in Dharmasala, India, the three are attacked by Makarov’s men. In this firefight players take on the role of Yuri, a loyalist who works for Nikolai. Their safehouse compromised, the group flee the area in a helicopter.
The game then cuts to Manhattan where Russia is launching an attack on the city from a fleet of ships parked in the Hudson River. (It appears the famous U.S.S. Intrepid may be destroyed.) The U.S. calls in Delta Force to repel the attack. You take on the role of Frost, a Delta Force operative under the command of Sandman. Your goal is to take out a jamming tower on top of the New York Stock Exchange to open the area for a U.S. counterattack.
Following the mission, Delta flies out of the city on a Blackhawk, gunning down enemy choppers as they make their way to the harbor where they have to infiltrate and take down a Russian sub which is coordinating the attack.
As the New York missions wrap up the game jumps forward in time half a year, thrusting players into the role of a Russian agent tasked with protecting the president of Russia as he flies to sign a peace treaty with the U.S. The plane is attacked by hijackers mid-air who attempt to kidnap the president and his daughter. The daughter manages to escape. The president of Russia in hand, Makarov vows to prevent a peace treaty by getting the launch codes out of the president and launching an attack against the U.S.
The game then returns us to Price, Soap and Yuri, now in Africa in a search for Makarov. They meet with a local South African arms dealer who tells them about a shipment of chemical weapons that Makarov is trying to buy. The group make their way to Sierra Leone to secure the weapons from African militia.
Next, players take on the role of an SAS operative who is tasked with stopping a delivery of weapons of mass destruction at a London dockyard. A gun battle ensues, and the agents are chased through the London subway. The mission culminates with a series of unmarked trucks exploding in front of the house of Parliament, releasing a deadly chemical agent.
Several other European cities and military bases are hit by similar terrorist attacks backed by Russia, and the death toll rises to the tens of thousands. The series of chemical attacks opens the door for a Russian military blitz strikes across the continent.
Price discovers that the South African arms dealer who tipped them off about the chemical weapons deceived them and travels to Somalia to find the man and interrogate him. Through the arms dealer, Price discovers that Makarov’s right hand man, Volk, is hiding out in Paris.
The game’s attention next shifts to Hamburg, Germany where players take on the role of a U.S. tank gunner fighting to push back a Russian advance backed by armored divisions.
As Hamburg falls, the game shifts us back to the story of Price and his crew. Now in Paris, players control Delta Force operative Frost who, with the help of the French special forces, leads an assault on Volk’s location in the underground catacombs of the city. Next, players take to the sky supporting Frost’s ground movements as a gunner in an AC-130.
After capturing and interrogating Volk, Frost learns that Makarov has a meeting in a Prague hotel. Players control Yuri as he and Soap slip into the Russian-controlled city and set-up an ambush for Makarov in a church bell tower. Makarov somehow catches wind of the trap and escapes. Soap, Yuri and Price then have to fight their way out of the city.
Yuri leads the team to one of Makarov’s headquarters in the Czech mountains and the group infiltrates the location, looking for clues. They discover that the ultra-nationalist has the president and is trying to get the codes out of him. Makarov has also discovered the location of the Russian president’s daughter. The group move out to Berlin to try and prevent her kidnapping. Playing as Frost, gamers must find the daughter and protect her, while making their way through war-torn Berlin. The daughter, however, is captured and flown away.
Frost next makes his way to the Kremlin where a task force of operatives attack and free the hostages, but Makarov manages to escape again.
The game’s final mission occurs in Dubai, where Yuri, Price and Sandman launch an assault on a heavily guarded hotel, eventually finding Makarov and, yes, finally killing him.
It also appears that the game may also include a post-credits level that features the burning of Washington, D. C.
The stage seems set for a passing of the torch: from player-controlled members of Task Force 141 to the new characters from Delta Force.”
Despite current rumors, this storyline does not feature Ghost whom many believe would be the main protagonist in the new game.
Game Name:Thor: God of Thunder Platform(s): Nintendo DS (Reviewed), Xbox 360, PS3, Wii Publisher(s):Sega Developer(s):Wayforward Genre(s): Action/Beat-em Up Release Date: May 3, 2011 (US), April 30, 2011 (EU) Price: $29.99 BUY NOW!
The whole concept of games created to release alongside a blockbuster movie is certainly nothing new these days. The problem is that many titles are rushed to make a certain date, resulting in a somewhat lackluster experience. Thor is the latest to get the video game treatment with all the familiar faces from the Marvel comic book in tow. Instead of going for updated gameplay and 3D character models, Wayforward have taken a step back and made the Nintendo DS release a 2D side-scrolling brawler which is sure to capture the attention of those who grew up gaming in the 90’s. So how does this different take on the a movie tie-in fare? Here is my review for Thor: God of Thunder for the Nintendo DS.
Story
Right off the bat I can say as this is being written, I have still yet to see the theatrical release for Thor. That really isn’t needed here though as the plot is told surprisingly well as small text-based encounters with other characters throughout game set the scene for what’s ahead. Many hardcore Marvel fans (or those that simply have seen the movie) are sure to instantly spot some familiar faces here such as Loki, Mangog, and Odin to name a few. Players take the role of the God of Thunder himself, armed with his trusty Mjolnir as he treks through in a battle to save his beloved Sif and take out the many ice giants, trolls, and other evils that await.
The whole game does a fantastic job of bringing a more 16-bit approach to it’s narrative and keeps everything focused more on the gameplay while still carrying a half-way interesting plot and capturing the theme for the franchise wonderfully in the process.
Gameplay
As I mentioned, what truly separates the DS version of this title from it’s console brethren is the actual gameplay. Thor: God of Thunder is a side-scrolling beat-em up that reeks of a 16-bit atmosphere from beginning to end. That being said, there is quite a bit of extra elements to enhance the overall experience. Thor’s main weapon is his hammer, the Mjolnir. The Mjolnir is mainly used as melee weapon, which by tapping the Y button lets you hammer down foes as they approach. A combo system is also in place which lets the generally weak attack gain strength as it is used for one smash-tastic hit at the end. While it can get a bit old after a while, this rather simple attack is pretty fulfilling to perform and does it’s job well for taking on a pack of trolls or ice giants at any given time.
Thor can also charge up and throw his Mjolnir at will, with the charged version of this attack dishing out more damage and sending the enemy to the ground nearly every time. A dash attackis available which quickly lunges Thor into a foe, but I honestly found the more simple attacks more useful. As you bash up enemies and proceed to the next area, valor is gained which eventually enables a God-like attack, striking all on the top and bottom screen with a massive thunder, wind, or force attack. I had plenty of fun using each of these techniques, but the true money shot in your arsenal is the grapple attack in my opinion. Just about any enemy can be grappled (though rather large ones require a bit of button-mashing effort), in which Thor quickly heaves the enemy above his head. The awesome part about this technique is that you can either be boring and simply toss the baddie away, or you can literally carry the unsuspecting creature throughout the level, using it as a weapon. Pillars can also be used with this method as well, in which Thor will rip a structure from it’s roots to smash enemies into the ground. This was actually one of the most useful techniques I found in the entire game and made me feel like I was actually controlling a powerful deity.
While the 2D elements are prominent at all times, Wayforward have certainly went out of their way to utilize both screens. That is due to the fact that each stage plays out on both for the whole experience. Any time it is required, Thor can leap into the air and onto the top screen to reach platforms, bash winged enemies, or escape from an overwhelming threat. The transition between screens is executed so seamlessly, it eventually becomes more of a second thought as both screens work together to paint one giant scene.
At times, the game can be quite repetitive as the attacks generally all look and feel the same but Thor does try to redeem itself with a small upgrade system. Throughout each stage, pick-ups known as runes can be acquired and equipped to enhance abilities such as melee attacks, throws, and Thor’s god-like powers. Up to three can be used at once and the changes are pretty noticeable for the most part giving the intended boosts promised. Admittedly, this doesn’t completely stop the monotony, but it does offer a slight reward for exploration of the linear environments while opening up a few extra options for combat in the process.
With the end of each stage comes an intense boss battle. Generally, the variety of enemies are pretty limited and a change of sprite to fit an environment is about all the change that is offered throughout the game. Boss battles however end each stage with fantastic climax and are a wonderful incentive to progress through. From large monsters to a more standard size foe, each battle requires a different strategy to destroy, adding a huge wind of fresh air into the rather repetitive system. For example, there is one huge ice creature that rears it’s head in which you must literally get inhaled into it’s body to destroy his icy core. Of course that is just an example, but I found each boss to be quite memorable and a pure pleasure to encounter due to the fine detailing that went into crafting this system. The utilization of both screens takes center stage for these battles here as well, making these battles all the more epic.
Graphics/Audio
Being a licensed 2D DS title could have been a bad thing, but the level of detail given to Thor graphically puts it on the same level as many of the AAA franchises for the handheld. Sprites are finely detailed down to the small marks on enemies weapons, and each animation runs fluently and I never once encountered a hiccup in gameplay due to the polish provided. Environments are also a fine production as the stunning background scenery are all layered with the foregrounds, creating a full, active scene to do combat in. Mountains, icy cave walls, and dried up, cracked floors also stick out to add even more depth to each area, making each stage feel more different from the next.
If you are a fan of those catchy tunes that played on some of the memorable 16-bit classics, you will feel right at home with Thor as that is what is presented. As far as audio goes though, the true champion of this game were the sound effects. Each time you smash your hammer onto an enemy or use your thunder power, you hear that loud thud or crack, and those small sounds definitely helped make the whole combat system all the more rewarding.
Overall
Thor: God of Thunder is what I would like to see from now on out of licensed titles. Yes, it is a 2D brawler, but so much detail went into the game that truly sets it apart from the usual rush-jobs we see in the market. The full utilization of both screens worked well and boss battles all were a nice finish to each action-packed stage. While the gameplay still suffered from some repetitive mechanics, it still remained simple and fun for the whole experience. Those who are looking for a more classic approach for their DS library should not let Thor fly under radar as this Thunder God provides a “shockingly” well crafted licensed title that will surely incite some feelings 16-bit nostalgia.
