Hello street fighter fans. MasterAbbott has been talking about Street Fighter 4 for the Iphone for a while here in the office. I have to admit, for an Iphone game it looks very good.
There is a free update coming that will be adding new characters to the game. The most recent announcement states that E. Honda will be coming. I honestly don’t know if this is good news or not, I never use him. MasterAbbott on the other hand has been drooling over the fact for the last few hours, even though I think it is just because of the two half naked men in the video below.
Duke Nukem Forever, right? It’s been on such a rough journey for the past 12 years – being a game, not being a game, then returning with force in 2010. Showing up unexpectedly at the Penny Arcade Expo, Gearbox allowed people to actually play Duke Nukem Forever, showing off a trailer and two levels.
Before people actually got to play the game, they were sat in a room where Randy Pitchford, President at Gearbox, explained why Duke Nukem Forever still exists and why they’re taking on such a project. Pitchford told the group that he owes Duke his career, joining 3D Realms for the development of Duke Nukem 3D. Pitchford said he couldn’t let Duke die, so being able to pick up Forever was an obvious choice for him. According to Pitchford, Duke Nukem Forever is currently in the polishing stages and is set for a 2011 release.
The demo doesn’t waste any time getting to the gritty humor that Duke Nukem is known for. You’re given a quick controls tutorial which involves peeing into a urinal. Pressing the right trigger starts the flow of urine, the right stick is used to aim, and whenever you feel you’ve made Duke pee enough, the X button finishes things up. So there you have it, an interactive urinating sequence in Duke Nukem Forever. Leaving the urinal, more interactive items are found throughout the bathroom, such as a working soap dispenser, a flushing toilet, working mirrors, and a white board where you can draw and erase whatever you please.
Leaving the bathroom you’ll run around some locker rooms and hallways, a boss is encountered, and if you’ve been keeping up with Duke Nukem you’ll remember this fight from Episode 3 in Duke Nukem 3D. Duke is faced by a giant Cycloid on a football field and the only way to take it down is with a rocket launcher that holds only 69 rockets. Support from above will drop more rockets when you run low. When the Cycloid’s health bar is depleted, a prompt will appear by the boss, allowing Duke to finish the fight with a brutal finisher – grabbing its tongue and kicking it through the field goal posts. The scene then pulls out revealing a TV, with Duke Nukem Forever on it, and Duke sitting in a chair in his mansion receiving some sort of oral service from two of his lady friends.
The next level in the demo is revealed as “Level 15” and starts off with a short driving sequence. When Duke runs out of gas, he hops out and continues on foot. Duke quickly runs into some Pig Cops. After shooting a couple dead, you’re able to find a variety of weapons, such as the shrink ray, rail gun, and the classic shotgun. After shooting some more Pig Cops a ship flies down and shoots Duke, sending him to the ground, but not without Duke sending up a middle finger first, ending the demo.
So here we are with a 12 year old Duke Nukem game that feels good to play and nails the humor that any fan would expect from a game like this. It’s absolutely crazy that Duke Nukem Forever is due to come out in 2011, but you know what they say, always bet on Duke. You can expect Duke Nukem Forever on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC next year.
Can’t wait to venture back into Pandora and kill more monsters? Borderlands fans, get your calenders ready and mark this date. SEPTEMBER 28th. That is the release date for Borderland’s Fourth chunk of DLC, ‘Claptrap’s New Robot Revolution’.
This DLC will also be bundled with the Game of the Year Edition slated for October 12th, 2010. So if you don’t have the game, I’d suggest picking up the GOTY edition; the game is completely worth it.
The free level cap update is currently undated, but it has to be nearing release as well; so the end of September/beginning of October, it is time to pull out Borderlands once again. I know I was kind of getting board of killing Crawmerax for the hundredth time. Only one pearlescent weapon too, can you believe that?!
Halo: Reach is just a few short days away, and Microsoft is busy promoting the game left and right.
For the next 6 days, Microsoft will release something special everyday as a countdown to the release of Halo: Reach, and then after release they will continue to release more tidbits on a daily basis for a few days after.7 Yesterday saw the release of a “Halo: Reach Noble Team Premium Theme“for 240MSP.
The rest of the countdown is below, see something you like down there? Mark the date.
8 September – Day 6: “Campaign Preview”
9 September – Day 5: “50% off Avatar Warthog Prop Offer”
10 September – Day 4: “Firefight Preview”
11 September – Day 3: “Deliver Hope – Director’s Cut”
12 September – Day 2: “Multiplayer Preview”
13 September – Day 1: “Halo: Reach Collection Update (Avatar)”
On release, Microsoft is also releasing a free Dashboard theme, some chances to play with the devs, and letting silver members play online for September 17th until September 20th. Sound good doesn’t it!?
During your daily channel surfing, you have probably come across the epic “Deliver Hope” Halo: Reach Trailer. That was only 30 seconds of the full epic live action short, and below we have the full extended cut. You really should check it out, it really is pretty epic.
Just six more days till Halo: Reach lands on September 14th, 2010.
Story “A mob of fun-loving zombies is about to invade your home in Plants vs. Zombies™. Defend yourself with an arsenal of home-guardin’ plants to mulchify zombies before they reach your front door.
Enjoy all the fun-dead action of the original hit game, plus lively new features. Get twice the zombie-zapping action with two-player versus and co-op modes. Upgrade and decorate your house in the interactive leaderboard, and check out your friends’ houses, too. Plants vs. Zombies for Xbox LIVE Arcade is loaded with seven game modes, new rabble-rousing features, and unlimited replayable action … so the fun never dies! ” [Via Xbox.com]
There isn’t much of a story in Plants vs. Zombies. Zombies are trying to attack your house, while you must defend it with plants. That is pretty straight forward.
Gameplay Plants vs. Zombies is a very basic resource management game. You must collect resources, which is sunlight, and then use the sunlight to grow more plants. Use the plants to defend your house. It is kind of like a tower defense game, except you are defending a house with plants rather than building towers to defend other towers.
Throughout the game new gameplay mechanics will be implemented to keep everything fresh. There is night time where you don’t get random sunlight, and can only get sunlight from other plants. There is also a pool level that only lets you grow aquatic plants in the water. There are even more gameplay mechanics that create a mixture of experiences and brings something new in each level.
Throughout the game you will get more plants to defend against an ever growing number of zombies. Each plant does something special, and you must plan accordingly because the stronger the plant the more resources are required to grow it. Just as you get new plants, new zombies will appear too. Each zombie has a different ability, or unique stat that makes them a formidable foe. You can check out each different plant or zombie in the almanac within the game.
There are additional co-op modes, and extra minigames that weren’t in the original Plants vs Zombies game. For those of you who haven’t even played the original, the extra modes are unlocked by playing through adventure mode. There is puzzle mode, survival mode, and a series of minigames such as Zombie Stomping, and Zombie Bowling. There is a lot to do in this game, and tons of fun to be had alone or with a friend.
Audio & Graphics
The audio seems to be imitating classic types of songs, but many of them loop regularly and get quite annoying. There are some songs that are catchy, but they are quickly droned out as you focus on what you are trying to do. On the bright sight, all the sound effects are pretty good. Destroying zombies with plants never sounded better.
Most of the graphics are 2d, but don’t let that turn you away. The graphic style fits perfectly and it lets you focus on the design more than the actual artwork. There are many different plants, and many different zombies each of which all look different. Early in the game you will unlock an almanac, which lets you look at every plant and zombie you have encountered. Reading the descriptions of each one is awesome, because many of them are hilarious. Every time I ran into a new zombie, I would go and check out what their description was in the almanac. Not only is it funny, but the almanac also gives insight on their stats.
Achievements The achievements found in Plants Vs. Zombies vary in difficulty, but all of them are obtainable by playing the game a lot. A majority of them require you to do a certain task, or beat a specific area of the game. None of them are actually that hard, and simply just take time. When you start the game, you won’t be able to do any of them, but as you progress through adventure mode you will unlock more plants which will in turn let you unlock more of the achievements. Even the multiplayer achievements can’t be done until you unlock the multiplayer game mode through adventure mode. The bottom line is that you won’t be able to do any of the achievements until you progress a decent way through adventure mode, so just go for “Home Lawn Security” and once you have that, then go for the rest.
Below is the achievement list:
Home Lawn Security – 25 – Complete adventure mode
Master of Morticulture – 25 – Collect all 49 plants in the game
Smarty Branches – 15 – Grow the Tree of Wisdom to at least 100 feet
Crash of the Titan – 10 – Defeat your first Gargantuar
ZFF’s 4 Evr – 20 – Bowl a winner with a friend in Co-Op Wall-Nut Bowling
Alive and Planting – 25 – Survive 40 waves of pure zombie ferocity
Soil Your Plants – 10 – Plant your first 10 peashooters
Versus vs Versus – 15 – Go on a 5 game winning streak in VS. mode
Explodonator – 20 – Blast 10 zombies at once with a Cherry Bomb!
Close Shave – 15 – Win any level after all 5 lawnmowers have been used
Shopaholic – 10 – Go trunk diving and spend at least $25,000 on Crazy Dave’s Twiddydinkies
Nom Nom Nom – 10 – Stop the horde using only the Sunflower, Wallnut, and Chomper on any level
Overview Zombies Vs. Plants has arrived on consoles, and it is better than ever. If you enjoyed the game on the PC then you will love this version. There are new modes to enjoy as well as co-op. New and improved leaderboards lets you show off what you have done in the game, while looking at your friends’ houses to see what they have done. For those of you who have never played the game, Plants Vs. Zombies is an enjoyable experience that lets you manage resources and defend your house from an onslaught of zombies. What more could you want?
I give Plants Vs. Zombies
Hey everyone, MasterAbbott sat down with the 99Games Online the developers of Jim and Frank Mysteries on the Apple iPhone to ask them some questions about their game. Check out the interview below. I have to say, this game looks great and is a bargain for only $2.99 on the App store.
Enjoy the interview.
What inspired you to produce Jim and Frank and where was your starting point?
The puzzle-based genre is perhaps the most populated genre on the App Store. Despite that, we never saw a game like The Jim & Frank Mysteries and wanted to fill in that gap. We knew we wanted a game that contained a variety of puzzles wrapped around an enthralling story. Prof. Layton was definitely an inspiration for us and we wanted to design a game that was on par with this title.
When did you realise you wanted to make Jim and Frank hand drawn and was it difficult to do so?
By the time we decided on the story line and the puzzles to go with it, we were certain that hand-drawn art would fit in perfectly with the game. We contemplated on going with a more contemporary theme but then decided against it. We also had thoughts on designing the game in black & white but then eventually when the colors were put in, there was no looking back. The art looked stunning on the iDevices and was just perfect.
We spent a hell of a lot of time in first sketching the concepts, transferring them to a digital form, coloring and shading them etc. It was a year long ordeal but was well worth it!
Did you have any inspiration for character design? e.g: personality and design?
Honestly speaking, this was our first attempt at designing something this big. We were new to character designing and we were nervous about it. Having said this, designing all the supporting characters was a piece of cake. However, we really sweated over the main characters-Jim and Frank. First of all, we had to finalize on the traits of both Frank and Jim. We really did our study on this one. Understanding popular game characters like Flo from the Dash games really helped in designing the behavioral traits of Jim and Frank. Our next task was to have a face to go with these features. We must have had umpteen designs before we finalized on these faces. It might be really funny, but we were inspired by Harry and Ronald of the Harry Potter series in finalizing them.
How many people worked on the game?
We had a team of 12 people working on this game. This includes the game designers, developers, testers and the graphic artists and of course a whole lot of beta testers J
Was it difficult to think of an original story? [The story is very original and well done!]
This was another big task. We spent a great amount of time in finalizing the plot, which went through a lot of iterations, and eventually a lot of the story was cut-short. We are happy the way it turned out though!
Was it easy coming up with puzzles and how did you find out about them or create them?
We’re really happy that people everywhere are loving the puzzles. Most of the puzzles included in the game are classic puzzles with a fresh new twist. There are some not-so-well-known ones as well, but all of them are sure to give you ‘aha’ moment. We wanted players to not just sit back and solve puzzles but wanted them to go through the experience of solving them. That is why we had a variety of puzzles and not simply data entry kind of puzzles. The accelerometer and multi-touch features of the iDevices helped us in achieving this.
Were there puzzles that didn’t make it into the game for any reason?
Quite a few of the puzzles didn’t make it into the game actually! When we were beta-testing the game, a lot of users reported that a couple of puzzles were either too easy or too hard. They were replaced by puzzles that made a better fit. Also, as the story changed, some puzzles no longer seemed to suit the storyline. They were replaced as well.
Was it hard to grade games by difficulty, and do you wish that you made Eurekas less available? (Maybe 1 in each scene instead of 2 total?)
Balancing the difficulty level sure was tough and our Beta testers helped us quite a bit in this. The game has 8 tasks, some of which are time-bound. Though the puzzles can be skipped, these tasks have to be completed in order to move forward. We had to make sure that skilled players finish it in just about enough time; while others should be able to complete it in a couple of tries. The purpose of Eurekas was to give hints to players and help players skip a puzzle which he or she cannot solve even after multiple tries as well as to add a hidden-object element to the game. After a lot of testing and collecting feedback from beta testers, we concluded that 2 Eurekas per scene would be good enough for an average player to complete the game.
Was it difficult to get voice actors and do you think the game could have been improved if all content had voice actors or would it of been massively time consuming?
We had an adventure with finalizing the voice actors for the game. Voice Acting is dearer both in terms of cost as well as file size. We finalized on 3 actors who have lent their voices to our characters. It definitely was a challenge since the game characters span from the age of 15-60.
It would definitely boost the game further if we had Voice Overs (VOs) throughout, but our graphics were already pressing on the file size and adding VO throughout the game would have increased the game size to an alarming rate making it difficult for the player to download the game. So we decided to compromise on this one.
How long did you want Jim and Frank to be and did you try and make it to the length you wanted? Did it turn out longer or shorter?
The entire game should take an average user about 20 hours of playtime. This is how we intended it to be. Extending it beyond that might have caused the players to lose interest in the plot.
Did you decide on a puzzle based game due to it’s recent presence in the gaming industry with games such as Brain Training and the Professor Layton series showing huge success?
Yes, the presence of such path-breaking games definitely was an inspiration to make a puzzle-based game; besides the fact that the App Store was in dire need of such a game. The game offers an engrossing storyline combined with classic puzzles and beautiful hand-drawn art, a combination that the App Store had not seen before.
What was your favourite part about producing Jim and Frank and what would you have changed if you had the chance?
The entire experience of producing this game was thoroughly enjoyable. We had a lot of first timers with this title. It was quite an ambitious title for us, we were new to character designing, story writing etc. We had a lot of homework to do before we finalized on the plot, the design and the programming of this game. Also, it was our first experience in working with an external publisher and Chillingo made it very easy for us. Guess the best part is now, when we are getting positive reviews for the effort we have spent in the past 8 months
We are really thrilled to see the game take off so well and we are constantly working on improving the game based on the feedback we’ve been receiving.
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Capsule Computers would like to thank the team over at 99 Games Online and wish them well with their future titles. If you haven’t already check out our review of Jim & Frank Mysteries do so here.
Story The Story is where this DLC shines. Minerva’s Den is the first DLC that adds to the story of rapture, and this story takes place in Raptures Computer Core. The computer core is the center of all the cool gadgets located throughout rapture. The guys here were the ones that created the turrets and many of the awesome weapons that you get to wield.
This story actually falls parallel to the main story. Instead of continuing the main story (which wouldn’t make sense) or even interjecting a new location within the main story; the developers decided to create a small, but complete Bioshock experience as a side story to the main game. This experience involves getting weapons, plasmids, and saving sisters all while following a new story that tells more of the back-story of rapture.
Gameplay The gameplay is exactly like Bioshock 2, it is a DLC after all. Minerva’s Den luckily doesn’t just add more story, but also adds new weapons and new plasmids. There is also a new big daddy and new turrets to completely ruin your day (in a good way).
The laser gun is the new weapon, but it seems to be lacking. Like any other weapon, there are different ammo types but they don’t help the gun that much. The laser gun just doesn’t feel like an epic gun and is quite week. Luckily, the new plasmid makes up for the laser gun being such a disappointment. The gravity well plasmid is simply fun, throw it and suck the life out of the splicers nearby.
The new big daddy is a lancer big daddy and wields the laser gun. These guys aren’t actually that hard, and if it wasn’t for their ability to blind you they would be pretty easy to dispatch as well. The new turrets are annoying, with their laser and electrical attachments; but once you hack them they come in quite handy.
Minerva’s Den actually gives you a bonus tonic for having completed the protector trials. If you complete the protector trials and jump into Minerva’s Den there will be an extra tonic for free. The tonic increases the amount of time it takes your little sister to harvest ADAM while giving you double the ADAM in return. In a DLC where ADAM is extremely important in order to buy all the plasmids you want, this is an awesome tonic to have; sadly it means harvesting ADAM will take longer.
Achievements The achievement list is not hard at all. A huge chunk of them can be achieved just by playing through the DLC once. “Garbage Collecting” requires a bit of searching, but the Vacuum Bots are all disabled or looping a set path; just destroy them all for the achievement. “High Score” requires you to set a certain score at the in-game video game, spitfire. It isn’t that hard, but may require a few attempts. Simply get used to the controls and you should be fine. Finally, there is “ADAM Addict”, which requires you to resolve all the little sisters. It doesn’t matter if you save, or harvest them but there are 6 and the only way to miss it is if you completely avoid them. Below is the achievement list:
Garbage Collection – 10 – Destroy all 10 Vacuum Bots in Minerva’s Den
Lancer Killer – 10 – Kill a Lancer Big Daddy
ADAM Addict – 10 – Resolve all the Little Sisters in Minerva’s Den
~~Secret Achievements~~
Login – 20 – Reached Rapture Central Computing Operations
SUDO – 20 – Wrested control of the Thinker from Reed Wahl
High Score – 10 – Get 9999 points in a single game of spitfire
Overview Minerva’s Den DLC offers a complete Bioshock 2 experience in a compressed 5 hour play time. Rather than getting one or two weapons and plasmids per level, you get tons of weapons and a bunch of ADAM to pick and choose what plasmids you want. Minerva’s Den offers new weapons, new plasmids, and a new story for you to explore with a very awesome twist at the end. Everything you could possibly want from a Bioshock game compressed into a small 5 hour package. Though collecting ADAM with 6 more little sisters was annoying as ever, it didn’t remove from the experience all that much.
I give Minerva’s Den DLC for Bioshock 2
Activision Publishing and Treyarch have today announced that award-winning actors Gary Oldman and Ed Harris have joined the cast of Call of Duty: Black Ops, with David S. Goyer having come onboard to provide script consultation and story development support. Oldman, known for his in Dracula, Harry Potter, Batman: The Dark Knight and most recently, The Book of Eli, will reprise his role as Viktor Reznov from Call of Duty: World at War; and Harris, best known for his roles in films like, The Abyss, Pollock and Apollo 13, will play one of the game’s main characters, CIA operative Jason Hudson. Filmmaker David S. Goyer’s writing credits include the blockbusters Batman: Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Blade and the upcoming Superman: Man of Steel.
“Oldman, Harris and Goyer are considered some of Hollywood’s finest talents and they perfectly compliment Call of Duty: Black Ops’ ambitious and immersive single player experience,” says Mark Lamia, studio Head of Treyarch. “Their contributions have helped us to push the boundaries of our story telling and character development far beyond anything we have ever attempted before in the franchise.”
Call of Duty: Black Ops will be released worldwide on 9th November 2010.
The battle for Cybertron continues as Activision Publishing having announced the availability of a new characters pack for Transformers: War of Cybertron on both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Based on Hasbro’s legendary Transformers brand, the downloadable content pack will include two new playable Transformers characters and five all-new maps for the multiplayer game modes.
The new playable Transformers characters joining the roster will include Zeta Prime and Dead End. Players will have access to both characters for both the game’s co-operative Escalation mode and for the traditional competitive multiplayer modes.
In addition to the brand new playable chassis, the pack will include five brand new multiplayer maps.
Two new Escalation mode maps include:
Pulse. An Autobot map that allows players to take a journey inside the Decepticon giant Trypticon, challenging fans to explore his twisted interior corridors to overload the central power core located within.
Static. A Decepticon map that thrusts players into a bevy of multi-level rooms riddled with environmental traps that can be used for their advantage.
Three new competitive multiplayer maps include:
Horizon. A picturesque sanctuary overlooking the war-torn Autobot city of Iacon, complete with wide open courtyards and tight spaces for close quarters combat.
Sector. An old maintenance facility used by the Decepticons during the legendary war and allows for open vehicle navigation, especially dive-bombing jets and those with long range weapons.
Metropolis. Set high above the clouds, Metrolpolis drops players straight into the bombed out ruins of a high rise Iacon city building. Liquid energon drips from broken pipes and sparking electricity crackles from severed wires as it was once served as a fierce central battleground on Cybertron.
The Transformers: War for Cybertron Map and Characters Pack 2 is currently available on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 800 Microsoft Points and in the Playstation Store for $9.99.
