Much like the Pokemon series, I don’t think any gaming year would feel complete without a Yu-gi-oh! title coming out and thankfully, fans will be able to get a fresh dose of Yu-Gi-Oh! just in time for the holidays with Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Duel Transer as the game is in stores today for the Nintendo Wii.
The game brings back the competitive card dueling as well as some of the rich storytelling as seen in the anime. Also included is a multi-player mode which allows two players to duke it out as well as an online wi-fi mode letting you take on opponents around the world to prove who is the supreme duelist.
Here is a bit more information on what can be expected in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Duel Transer:
Mysterious characters from the Duelist Corp have descended on the island of Ragnarok and are looking to battle in the competition held by one of the games original characters. This time, players do battle in the Duel of Legend Cup alongside franchise favorites Yusei Fudo and Jack Altus with more than 4,500 cards including Star Strike Blast. Build your deck and duel against your favorite characters from the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s universe, including 20 new characters to interact with, throughout Story Mode and Free Duel. Players will compete through 13 duelist stages, each with a completely original honeycomb mapping system allowing for both linear and non-linear game play.
Pretty impressive if I do say so myself and this title should please all the Yu-Gi-Oh! fans out there as included in the box are three cards exclusive to the game which are Closed Forest, Fighter Ape and Roaring Earth. Selling for $39.99 (US), Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Duel Transer is officially in stores today. You can check out the launch trailer below.
Title Name: Time Crisis Razing Storm Platform: Playstation 3, PS Move Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Developer:Namco Bandai Games Genre: Rail/FPS shooter Release Date: October 19 2010 ESRB: Teen Price: $49.99 U.S.
One of the greatest arcade rail shooters of all time has come onto the Playstation 3 for the second time. Utilizing the PS Move as the gun controller, it simulates having the arcade GUNCON controller in your hands. It includes three games. Razing Storm, Time Crisis 4, and Deadstorm Pirates. Also known as the Namco collection. Has Time Crisis Razing Storm finally succeed in bringing the arcade feel on the console, or did it die trying?
Story
Not much here as you would know if you played a TC before. All the games before it usually have to do with terrorists and a plot to destroy or control the world, same with Razing Storm. Terrorists have come to do their nefarious plottings and it is your job to take them out. TC4 deals with the use of nano machines to destroy the world. Deadstorm Pirates has you on a quest for booty and many mythical creatures happen to get in your way. It sets a nice backdrop for mindless shooting action. Not much for an introduction but when it’s an arcade game it doesn’t really need one. Time Crisis is all about the re-playability and how many quarters you can constantly feed into the machine.
Gameplay
Let’s get straight to the point, this game is boring compared to the arcade. In the arcade versions, you shoot with a gun and no reticule. So if someone is standing next to you, they can see how good your shooting skills are. It ups the difficulty and fun factor. The Move version uses a reticule, it would be fairly hard to aim the control like a gun and even hope to be accurate without one. It was smart move to put it in the game but, in turn made the action very stale. In Razing Storm your default weapon is an automatic assault rifle. This means that you can just hold the trigger button with the occasional push of the move button to reload. Not much variation from that except for boss battles where more use of the duck button is needed. In Deadstorm Pirates you don’t get the cover mechanic. it boils down to praying and spraying. The aim is to kill the monsters fast enough so they do not hit you. Anyone familiar with House of the Dead, Deadstorm Pirates plays exactly like that.
I believe TC4 to be the most fun out of them all the three titles on this disk. Maybe because I put so many quarters into the TC4 machine or because it simply works the best using the PS MOVE. The only controls you need to know in TC4 are shoot, duck and switch guns. Shoot and switch guns are the same button so you are basically only pressing two buttons through the entire game. This simplicity is what makes the TC series so fun. When TC4 came out on the ps3 it was bundled up with the GUNCON 3 gun controller. I don’t know how it performed as I never tested it out, but I’m guessing aiming with the gun would of been performed quite the same way (looking down the sights and shoot), just like the arcade version.
This is just explaining the arcade mode of the games. Razing Storm has a story mode that brings something new to the series. In this mode is presented to you as a first person shooter. Moving your character around with the analog stick and looking with the Move controller. This control scheme is very clunky and flawed. Using the Move and navigation controller (similar to how the wii-mote and nun chuck work), you turn by pointing toward the edge of the screen. I got very frustrated at times with this, say there is an enemy right on the edge of the screen, when you go to shoot at him the screen moves and you miss. This happened to me so many times I lost count, the only thing that did help out the game play was the accuracy of the Move controller and PS eye. The hardware is what makes this game good. If this fundamental piece was broken, the game would be a total disaster. There is the option to play with the Dualshock 3 controller. This just makes it no different than a regular first person shooter.
Audio and Visual
The visuals on all three games are not very visually stunning. They aren’t expected to be if they are arcade games. On Razing Storm though, I expected a little better since it was built exclusively on the PS3. It has improved from TC4 but not much. Enemies look quite blocky and don’t move around much. They either stay in the same place or move back and forth to and from cover. Even in story mode I would catch someone standing right in the middle of a hall way or room. Now granted one hit taken and one of your three lives are stolen by the Grim Reaper himself, but the AI are not very smart. Usually you wouldn’t have time to notice as the enemies are trying to kill you and you need to be quick on the draw so to speak. There is a lot more detail in Razing Storm than in the other two titles though. The frame rate runs good and doesn’t slow down one bit. This is very commendable to Namco as it’s a very fast paced game.
The audio is, what I would call cheesy action music. Not very moving or cool but it gets the job done. The use of basic sound effects make the game not feel very awkward. Deadstorm Pirates has music that comes straight out of pirate themed game or movie. The sounds each gun makes isn’t anything special. A handgun sounds like a handgun and a shotgun sounds like a shotgun. This isn’t a bad thing at all, if these sounds were any different I would be really wondering what happened during development.
Overview
Time Crisis has been trying to make a big hit on consoles since the second in this series. This latest version uses the advanced technology of the Move to deliver accurate but stale gameplay. Basic weaponry and repeated gameplay trailing all the way back to the first TC make this game something you can skip on. If you really like the series and don’t want to spend all your money at the arcade, then give it a try. If not, it is best left to the arcade machines to give the exhilaration of rail shooting.
We’ve heard bits and pieces about MindJack and even seen the trailer which shows that in the future people’s minds are nothing but a plaything for hackers as they can hack right into your brain and control your every action. Not only that but other players can even hack into your own world and take control of civilians and soldiers just the same as you can.
Square Enix just announced today that there will also be some pre-order bonuses for those who wish to drop a bit of money a little early. The pre-order bonus is named the Ability Pack and comes free with those who pre-order the game at Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, or Square Enix themselves. So don’t have to worry about any store exclusive bonuses to choose between.
The Ability Pack contains the following and will be yours as long as you pre-order by January 18th when the game releases for the PS3 and Xbox 360:
Elite FIA Soldier Suit: It’s a gold uniform for your soldier in the game; you’ll look great! (seen above)
Unlimited Dash: Nothing to do with Stacey Dash, unfortunately, this will give you unlimited speed abilities.
Instant High Voltage: Sure, “Wanderer Mode” — which lets you travel as an electromagnetic wave to hunt down your next target — is cool and all. But what if you could dash while doing it? Pre-order now to avoid the disappointment of not being able to!
If you are a fan of SNK Playmore’s games from the years gone by then you are in luck because they have announced that they will be releasing something known as the Neo Geo Station on the Playstation Network. The Neo Geo Station will be initially available with ten different games which you can find the list of below:
Alpha Mission II
Art of Fighting
Baseball Stars Professional
Fatal Fury (also on PSP 12/21)
The King of Fighters ’94
League Bowling
Magician Lord
Metal Slug (also on PSP 12/21)
Samurai Shodown
Super Sidekicks
On December 21st the games will arrive on the PSN and cost $9 for a PSN copy or $7 for a PSP version of the games. The games themselves aren’t simply ports of the original games either as SNK has announced that there will be new features such as online co-op and versus modes on the PS3 as well as other improvements.
We just recently have heard about Atari’s new Ghostbusters video game called Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime and we already were surprised at the fact that it is being released next month for the PSN, XBLA, and PC. Today they have officially confirmed the game itself and also released a trailer to show off bits of the game with the Ecto-3 and a few different bosses that will show up inside of the game
Atari’s CEO Jim Wilson had this to say about the game:
“Following the success of Ghostbusters: The Video Game, we arecommitted to continuing the lore of the Ghostbusters franchise with Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime. In Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime, we are introducing an entirely new look and gameplay experience on digital platforms that will impress new and loyal Ghostbusters fans alike.”
The game itself will be a twin-stick shooter and is being developed by Behavior Studios. It is interesting to see that they are taking this approach to the franchise and it does look very interesting with the twin-stick shooting mechanics. Especially with what appears to be a subway train ghost that is an actual subway train and battling on the back of the Ecto-3. No news of a price tag however, though one can expect a price between $10-$15 (800 MSP-1200 MSP).
From the makers of Dementium -Renegade Kid- ATV Wild Ride brings off-road racing to the DS. It’s an odd new direction given its track record with the Dementium series and Moon but the game has already made some pretty large claims.
The game is aiming to be the best ATV experience you can get on the DS with 24 tracks spanning the US, Thailand, England, Russia, Canada and Mexico, in addition to four-player multiplayer, 60 frames-per-second and the ability to perform an array of stunts/tricks.
Apparently the developers took inspiration from the off-road racer Pure and, after wondering why nothing similar had yet made it onto the dual-screened handheld, got to work on this latest title.
Details are still a bit hazy around the release of the game, with no worldwide release date. However, it has been confirmed for a January 2011 release in North America.
For now, take a look at the world premiere announcement trailer:
So PETA has nominated Fable 3 for a Libby… For most animal Friendly Game… Yeah, they clearly haven’t played it. Chickenbane gun anyone? (Requires you to kick a whole bunch of chickens to upgrade it).
“Nominated by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) for a Libby Award for Most Animal Friendly Game of 2010, “Fable III” captures the true spirit of camaraderie with your loyal canine companion as you adventure through Albion and rise from rebel to ruler.”
We kid you not. Created by Dave Rapoza, what you are looking at is the box art for the limited edition PC version of Super Meat Boy. One of the most successful arcade games this year, SMB is being printed on disk for a full retail release, and although the box art may be… misleading, either way you will be playing as a rippling hunk of chunk, no matter how big.
Personally, I love it in an 80s super macho throwback kinda way, while his girlfriend there bears more resemblance to the recently announced Ms `Splosion Man than Bandage Girl. Team Meat had this to say:
“This cover will be placed on our upcoming PC boxed release that will be printed and sold independently through our site. This “Special Edition” pc version will feature the exact same game as you’ve played on steam, but it will also come packed with special features like behind the scenes videos, design sketches, illustrations and never before scene cutting room floor characters, art and the like.
We hope to have the printed version out by the end of Jan. after the level editor is out, it will probably sell for around 20-25 bucks depending on the final price of the printing.”
A teaser site with the line ‘Murder Your Maker’ surfaced earlier last week and rumors erupted that it was about Prototype 2, these rumors could be quite accurate with the most recent teaser for it. This five second teaser shows quick flashes of Prototype gameplay and a bunch of screaming monsters.
There is also the letters “NYZ”, which most likely means the game will still take place in some form of New York City, except now its probably been completely overrun by the creatures.
It is all still just a bunch of theories and all will be revealed at the VGAs on December 11th according to the site. Check out the five second teaser trailer below and see what else you can discover out of the 5 seconds.
This most recent trailer for Test Drive Unlimited 2 shows more of the sunny environments located within the game, you are on a tropical island after all. There are also tons of nice long roads to speed on and get in trouble with the cops. The only thing missing from this video is any actual sense of speed, everything seems slow but I guess that is to show off the environments.
Check out the video below.
Test Drive Unlimited 2 will be available on February 8th, 2011 in North America and February 11th, 2011 in Europe.
