If you thought the PSP was on it’s way out, what with all those PSP2 rumors circulating, then think again. Hot off the press in no particular order we present, a rather lovley line-up of some of the best titles being released in 2011. From Action, to RPG and old favorites like Parasite Eve, Square Enix has you covered, so dust off those PSPs and get gaming!
Sydney, Australia (8 December 2010) – Square Enix Ltd., the publisher of SQUARE ENIX® interactive entertainment products in PAL territories, today announces further details on four exclusive titles for the PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) system that will be released for the console throughout Autumn 2011 in Australia and New Zealand.
LORD of ARCANA®, a new action game is the first title in the wave of releases. Scheduled for release in February, LORD of ARCANA plunges the player into the dark depths of the underworld to fight vast and powerful creatures of legend in their quest to obtain the power of Arcana. Up to four players can team-up to slay the darkest demons, unlocking new items and skills along the way.
LORD of ARCANA will be released as a special “Slayer Edition”, comprising of a copy of the game in a unique ‘Slayer Red’ game case, a 44 page hardback artbook ‘The Art of LORD of ARCANA’ and a Mini Soundtrack CD (image attached).
Arriving shortly after LORD of ARCANA is TACTICS OGRE™: Let Us Cling Together™, a PSP reinvention of the classic Strategy RPG. Key members of the original TACTICS OGRE development team have reformed to deliver the ultimate version of this definitive Strategy RPG experience. Hiroshi Minagawa (Director), Yasumi Matsuno (Game Design & Scenario), Akihiko Yoshida and Tsubasa Masao (Character Design) Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata (Composers) return to revitalise their masterpiece for a new format.
Reborn from the ground up, with reworked visuals and effects, a re-arranged soundtrack by the original composers, new character growth mechanics and a new Wheel of Fortune system that adds even more replay value to the game. TACTICS OGRE™: Let Us Cling Together™ is shaping up to be another classic.
DISSIDIA® 012[duodecim] TM FINAL FANTASY®is the blockbuster follow-up to the smash hit DISSIDIA FINAL FANTASY, offering a winning mix of fighting game action and RPG depth, starring the most memorable heroes and villains from the worlds of the FINAL FANTASY series.
A new war between Cosmos and Chaos requires new allies both good and evil to join the battle. With new game modes, story missions, items, alternate costumes and combat features, DISSIDIA 012[duodecim] FINAL FANTASY expands upon the action and excitement of the original in every way. Get ready for the return of the ultimate portable fighting experience.
Rounding out the spring of PSP releases is The 3rd Birthday™, a thrilling third-person shooting game full of suspense. Aya Brea is mankind’s last hope for survival against the powerful Twisted. Using her unique Overdive ability, Aya can dive into enemy and ally bodies, taking control of them for strategic advantage. The 3rd Birthday is an all-action shooter with rich character development and weapon customisation, exciting missions, incredible visuals and a gripping suspense-filled story.
Full details of forthcoming Special Editions for TACTICS OGRE: Let Us Cling Together, DISSIDIA 012[duodecim] FINAL FANTASY and The 3rd Birthday will be revealed soon along with specific release dates for all four games.
For more information about LORD of ARCANA, TACTICS OGRE, DISSIDIA 012[duodecim] FINAL FANTASY and The 3rd Birthday please visit the official websites at:
This is one for just the Playstation fanboys – platform local, Kratos the undead Spartan God of war, is dropping in to the arena, and Scorpion and Sub-Zero better look out! Thanks to an early leak of the January edition of the Official Playstation Magazine we can tell you that (not surprisingly), Kratos will be an exclusive and un-lockable playable character.
Further news though, that he will not feature in the story mode or have his own back story, which further lends evidence to the fact that yes, there will be a story in the game (even if it is adhock to the arcade mode). given recent video media, we were expecting some sort of story for each character at least explaining a reboot of their existing backgrounds, but Kratos will appear in the multiplayer and non-story modes only, presumably with both chained weapons intact. To bring further insult to the XBOX community, he will also have his own arena based on the legendary God of War series.
Now, platform tie-ins are nothing new, in fact they have become much anticipated and highly coveted over the years, in particular Soul Calibre has led the way with the likes of Yoda and Darth Vader making an appearance in SCIV. Unlike said game, that eventually allowed both consoles to own both characters (at a price) it is a fair bet, that Kratos will be kept to the PS3 crowd, in much the same way Dead or Alive 4 had Halo “Master Chief” Spartans (females in fact, complete with Halo levels and music).
David Jaffe who directed the first God of War had a lot to say on Twitter, including a bunch of swears and a comment on if Kratos was actually based on a Mortal Kombat character originally:
“LOVE that Kratos is in the new MK. So bummed he’s not in the story portion. Heard about it from Ed at E3 this year and had to keep super mum on it but man, f*****g LOVE it. He totally fits in that world. I s**t you not- on some level I feel like all the characters I work on are alive and that I have a relationship with them and I can tell you, if I know Kratos- and I do!- he’s f*****g LOVING his time in the MK Universe. I bet he makes a s**t ton of friends there. He should pull Zeus in and f*****g leave his ass there!”
When someone asked if the design of Kratos was changed because of similarities to a Mortal Kombat character, David Jaffe responded with the following statement:
“I do remember we changed him but it was NOT because of an MK character. It was someone on the team pointing out the Barbarian from Diablo 2- which I had never played- and we were like: HOLY F**K!!!! I saw the similarities with Kratos and Qu’an Chi (is it) but never felt it was close enough to worry about. The Barbarian tho was too close for comfort so we changed it.”
On a possible Fatality for Kratos:
Dude Kratos would have a F***ALITY and f**k the S**T out of Sonya ANDKatana at the same m*******g TIME!!!! 🙂
On a tag team partner that will fit well with Kratos:
Nightwolf or Kanoseems like good conceptual fits for Kratos’ MK tag team partner.
Finally, David Jaffe added one last comment:
Hell, I think Kratos should reach out and pull the f*****g MK classic Narrator into the game and gut the f****r! Oh, or rip the head off
As for a Microsoft Xbox 360 exclusive – This punter is for some reason thinking, Gears of War – You heard it here first
Persona -trinity soul- Volume 2 Produced by: A-1 Pictures (Aniplex) Licensed by: NIS America Contents: 2 DVDs containing episodes 14-26, Special Features, Premium Edition Box, and Art Book Language: Japanese with English subtitles Official Website: Persona -trinity soul- Price: $38.99-47.99 Available for purchase at:NIS America’s Online Store, Anime Castle, Right Stuf, and The Anime Corner Store
Overview:
Many different anime are released in Japan, and then have a video game created about them that features the storyline and expands upon it. Persona -trinity soul- does the opposite however as it takes the well-established Persona franchise and creates a storyline separate from the game. While the Persona games have a very large following in Japan and a good following in America as well, just how well does Persona-trinity soul- stand up? Or does it establish itself as a great story set in the Persona universe? A-1 Pictures and NIS America bring fans of Persona the conclusion of Trinity Soul’s standalone story with Volume 2.
Art:
Fans of the Persona series will not find themselves wanting as far as the characters look, nor will they have any issues with the Personas themselves either. One noticeable reason for the fact that they look as real to game style as possible is the fact that Shigenori Soejima who happened to do the art for Persona 3 also provided the original artwork for the various characters inside of Persona -trinity soul-.
The Personas have a supernatural feel about them especially considering the way that they can are slightly transparent which allows for a ghostly presence to do battle with other Personas. The action scenes are handled extremely well without any loss of clarity or focus in the actual artwork which can sometimes happen. I can’t count the number of shows that I have seen in the past that have seen drastic drops in quality in an action scene. Thankfully Trinity Soul avoids that problem completely with crisp clear artwork especially during the battles.
There are problems occasionally with how the characters interact with one another outside of major scenes, with still movements and conversations. This begs the question as to how much work was allocated towards the battle scenes that certain other scenes were left more lifeless due to the fact that only the characters mouth moves and the rest of the body stays entirely still.
Subtitles & Audio:
To begin with it is good to know that Persona –trinity soul- has retained its entire voice cast from Japan. What this also means is that the series is only subbed rather than dubbed. This is hardly a problem however as in my opinion subs are superior to dubs in a number of ways. With each episode being subbed Trinity Soul does not lose any of its original appeal, but it does mean that any viewer who does not understand Japanese will have to read the subtitles throughout the show.
The subtitles themselves are displayed in a white font and use what appears to be an Arial style font to be easily recognizable. Though one small sign of notice is that certain phrases are not translated and are displayed with English letters but still in Japanese. While this may not have been a problem if the subtitles had picked one format for the brothers and staying with that format. Instead the translation will leave aniki (Japanese respectful term for older brother) but translate Jun’s use of onii-chan (another form of older brother in Japanese but endearing) into brother. This is not much of an issue but does show inconsistencies in the way translation was handled.
The music within the show itself is handled by Taku Iwasaki and fits the different parts of the show perfectly. The tone of the background music changes as one would expect, with rock sounding music on battle scenes and then switching to heartstring pulling orchestral pieces during serious scenes. The opening theme song “Word of Voice” was contributed by FLOW and the ending theme was handled by Yumi Kawamura and is titled “Found Me.”
Story:
Persona -trinity soul- Volume 2 closes the chapter on the Trinity Soul series but how does it handle what was left for it in the first volume? While Volume 1 may have left a gap in much of the story the second half of the story easily makes up for this lost knowledge with relatively easy to follow plot developments and explanations.
Ryo, who is Shin and Jun’s older brother, has fallen under suspicion for a crime that he may or may not have committed. Regardless of that fact however, one more disaster is looming in the world as a shortage of pills that suppress Personas are coming into a short supply. This instantly leads to trouble as users who do not know how to control their Persona run low on suppressants and ultimately go berserk and hurt innocent bystanders.
In an attempt to prevent their own loss of control by stopping the group known as Marebito and securing more control over their Personas by learning how to master them and use them without losing control of themselves in the process. All the while they must find out what truly happened to Ryo and the secrets behind “The Whale”
Fans of Persona 3 will be surprised to see that there is an appearance of an old character from the game within the show. Akihiko Sanada has returned to replace Ryo temporarily as he is still missing. The addition of Sanada is a great way to reward fans of the series who had probably been waiting to see a cameo appearance similar to this and it is handled smoothly enough to not feel forced upon the audience who otherwise would not know who the man is without background knowledge.
The story itself is fast paced enough to keep audiences interested while also keeping a serious attitude with the subject matter. We see much more in depth information about certain characters’ pasts and discover much more than viewers ever thought would be revealed with secrets and the truth coming forth. While bits of the storyline may be confusing and hard to understand, the show itself ends satisfying enough to put the story to a close. However if you the viewer are still confused about various things that had happened then you are not left hopeless either, as a bonus feature was included just in case you were still left tangled in the mysterious web that Trinity Soul wove.
Premium Edition:
Now when you purchase Persona -trinity soul- Volume 2 you’ll notice that it comes with a complete premium edition packaging that includes a special sturdy collectors box which measures 8” tall, 11” long and 1” thick contains two slim DVD packages as well as a hardcover art book. Now while the collectors box’s dimensions do make it hard to find a shelf to put it on if you have standard DVD holding shelves, the box art itself will beg you to do otherwise.
The box itself features artwork on both sides featuring the three Kanzato brothers; Shin, Ryou, and Jun. One side of the box features each of the brothers looking out towards you, while the other side features each character getting ready to run plus Shin’s Persona Abel. Each side also features the title in blue lettering for PERSONA and smaller white lettering for trinity soul. The cover art on both sides is gorgeous though I preferred the side that had Abel on it as it was more colorful and has more to see.
The DVDs themselves come in slim cases, with DVD #1 featuring episodes 14-20, and DVD #2 containing episodes 21-26. Disc #2 also has the special features on it which though not numerous, are very informative. There is the clean version of the opening and ending theme, meaning no credits or subtitles rolling across the screen. But the other bonus is very useful considering it contains something called the Perfect Guide which is where Omatsu Yutaka, producer of A-1 Pictures, explains various mysteries of Persona –Trinity Soul- and looks to answer any questions you may have which is great for those who may be confused about the ending or about different things that they saw within the series.
Then we have the art book which shares the same dimensions of the hardcover case, minus the 1” thickness of course. The artbook itself is a 34 page hardcover book that has Jun and Shin Kanzato as well as Ayane Komatsubara and Megumi Kayano with her Persona Diana on the cover. Inside however is where the art book shines. There are screenshots and small synopsis of each episode included in the volume and details on different characters (and their Personas) from the series itself. The characters detailed and pictured are mostly secondary characters as the first volume contained the primary characters but the details given are very in-depth even for characters that don’t play large rolls. Also included are a few illustrations and location drawings, model sheets, and interviews with those who worked on the series. Another nice touch added into the art book is the inclusion of a yonkoma (4 panel comic) for each episode that puts a comedic twist on situations and is great for a laugh.
Overall:
Persona -trinity soul- tackles the difficult task of being placed within a well-established world and creating a setting and storyline just as interesting as the games themselves. The way that the Personas were drawn and were portrayed to do battle with one another kept the show fresh and the story developments in-between were enough to keep me watching with all of the mysteries it had to reveal. The bonuses included in the Premium Edition are just icing to the cake of what was a deep and intriguing experience and is hard to pass up for fans of the Persona series and newcomers alike.
Today I had the pleasure of sitting down and testing a close to final beta build of the long awaited sequel to Gameloft’s hack and slash Diablo style RPG : Dungeon Hunter. Dungeon Hunter 2 takes place 25 years after the events of the first Dungeon Hunter. You take on the role of one of the Immortal king’s twin sons and embark on a journey that has you escaping from prison and then traveling across the realm of Gothicus to save everything that needs to be saved.
Dungeon Hunter 2 has received quite a few updates from the original release – for starters Gameloft have ramped up the graphical aspect of the game. Taking advantage of the iPhone 4 retina display, images appear vibrant, sharper and much more detailed, take for example the first level (Prison Break) the ground looks absolutely stunning making you feel guilty that you’re walking around with those dirty boots on messing up the place. Along with that the lighting effects when casting spells have vastly improved from the original. You also start off with your little lightening fairy Celest who can hurl lightning bolts at enemies which also look quite impressive when called to aid in battle.
Your main character has also undergone a fairly decent transformation not just graphically but also in terms of character progression within the game. This time around you can level up your character up to level 100 compared to only level 50 in the original game. Unfortunately no new classes have been introduced into the game. The same three classes are still available which are : The Mighty Warrior, Rouge and Mage. What Gameloft have added to spice up player choices is a specialization class within the main class once you reach level 12. Take for example the Rouge once you reach level 12 you have the option to branch off and choose between taking the path of an archer or an assassin with whatever decision you make unlocking a new set of skills to allocate points to making you stronger and more deadlier as you progress further into the game. ( A total of 16 skills are available to each character – 8 for main class and 8 for specialty class both with 4 active and 4 passive skills to choose from)
The Warrior has the option to move into and become a Berzerker or a holy Crusader, Being a Berzerker allows him to pull off powerful offensive manoeuvres or you take the path of the Crusader where you’ll be granted a fine mix of both offensive and defensive style abilities. Last but not least the Mage who always starts off as the weakest but if used wisely can be one of the most deadliest characters in the game will have the ability to branch off into an illusionist or a spellcaster. Great thing about these classes and new subclasses is that it provides players with a lot of replayability as they can try out what each of the subclasses are like combined with the 16 available skills to choose from.
There are a total of approx. 400 items such as weapons, armour, shields, rings, helmets, boots etc. If you’re familiar with the original Dungeon Hunter – picking up loot from killing enemies works pretty much the same way. After you kill a monster or two they will drop random loot, simply walking over it will automatically collect the items and very briefly display the name of what you’ve just picked up on the screen (this I’ve found a little annoying as most of the time you can’t read what you’ve picked up as it disappears too quickly and therefore are forced to go into the menu system and waste time going through what you’ve just collected) most of the time it will be sent straight to transmute (the ability to convert useless and unwanted items into gold for a little less rather than dragging it back to town and selling it merchants for approx. 10-15% more) queue, but on the off occasion rare items will appear which have magical abilities associated to them. These items have magical properties that increase one or more of your character’s attributes. The colour of each item indicates the number of magical properties the item has. For example items white labelled items have no magical properties, Green have 1, Blue have 2, Purple have 3 and Gold have 4. By the end of the game you should be gunning for a character equipped with a whole set of Gold items.
The menu system hasn’t changed very much from the original making it very easy to navigate through the stats, inventory, skill, fairy, quest tabs without any problems. Newcomers might find it a little daunting at first due to so many different things you can choose from. Currently the preview code didn’t have a tutorial explaining what each tab does as it did in the original game (we only hope this is added in the final build). A welcomed and much sort after feature that is needed in every RPG is the introduction of the game world map. Dungeon Hunter 2 is approx. 5 times bigger than the original game allowing you to run off in any direction to explore, kill monsters, visit more areas and visit on more side quests. The map will be a great friend to have with you as you embark on this grand adventure.
One of the biggest draw cards in Dungeon Hunter 2 is the addition of the four player online, wireless or Bluetooth multiplayer co-op. Playing online you can invite your friends through Gameloft Live or via Game Center (unfortunately testing multiplayer on the beta build only allowed us to reach the lobby of the hosted game but then didn’t work so I wasn’t able to fully test it out )
In theory Multiplayer will allow you to either host a game allowing you to begin from any section of main quest that you have already reached and invite your friends in to help you, or join their game and do the same thing. What we have to assume is that you will be able to bring your own character from your single player adventure online where you will hopefully be able to gain experience and collect loot in which you will be able to take back with you and use in your own single player adventure. At this moment in time we won’t be able to find out if there will be any level restrictions when joining a online party. Implementing such a rule will allow for example players with only a 5 level difference to party up together (eg highest level character in group is level 15 meaning you must be min level 10 to join in). Anyone too low will not be allowed to join till they are within level restriction. This will ensure that lower level characters don’t level boost and gain large amount of XP in a matter of hours.
Once the full release of Dungeon Hunter 2 is released we’ll be able to provide you with further details on how multiplayer works. For now Gameloft have done an amazing job with opening up the game and allowing more freedom to explore without having to be cooped up in a linear world that was the original Dungeon Hunter. If you’re a true fan of the action RPG – hack and slash style games Dungeon Hunter 2 looks like the best option and a must buy for your iPhone. Keep an eye out for it to hit the iTunes store before Christmas.
In just a little over a month, Capcom’s latest title, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective will finally be available for the Nintendo DS. I have already mentioned in the past how awesome this game is shaping up to be, but now Nintendo and Capcom want you to try it out for yourself with a new flash based browser demo which can be accessed at Nintendo EU’s official site by clicking here. Now the demo is a bit more of a tutorial mode so to speak for the game, but it does a great job at showing how the gameplay will work out as well as shedding some light on the story players can expect.
As well as a demo, a new video as also risen showing off yet another scene from the game where we see Sissel trying to solve the untimely death of a middle aged man by possessing the objects in the area and turning back time to find out exactly went wrong. You can check out that video as well as 15 new screenshots and character art below and keep checking back in the future for even more updates on Ghost Trick as we grow close to the January 14th release date.
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).
