Champions Online, the superhero themed MMORPG from developers Cryptic Studios, has gone free-to-play in it’s latest update titled ‘Free-For-All’.
Along with the free-to-play model the update also bring other features to the game. Features such as –
· Play Everything – With the exception of special Adventure Packs, all the content in Champions Online: Free For All is available to every player. Once a player enters a location within the MMO game world, nothing is off-limits!
· Unlimited Play Time – Play as much as you like, as long as you like, at absolutely no cost. No subscription or credit card required.
· Your Own Hero, Your Own Story – Become a hero, encounter his or her Nemesis, and advance to maximum level at no cost.
· Play Your Way – Utilize the optional web-based and in-game C-Store to purchase gameplay upgrades or additional premium content.
The current model allows players to explore all the current content for free with the exception of paid-for addons from the in-game store. Free players will also have to build a class from one of several archetypes, which are diverse enough to be competitive, whereas subscribing members will still be able to build their hero in the way they wish to. For a more comprehensive list of features between free-to-play members and subscribers, visit the Features Matrix.
First Atari shared with everyone the mass customisation of Test Drive Unlimited 2 and the characters the player plays as, now they are showing off the custom paint jobs you can give to your car.
There are a large amount of different paint jobs in the video, including a bunch of girly ones that might be a little less intimidating in a race. With any number of decals and choices, the possibilities on how you make your car look are numerous and it is up to you how you show off your racing pride. Just try not to wreck your ride too much.
Test Drive Unlimited 2 is out in February 2011. Check out the new car customisation trailer below for more.
There is no doubt that when it comes to casual titles, the Nintendo DS has been the perfect home for quite an array of some spectacular pick-up and play games, which is just another reason the handheld has been so successful to start with. Majesco & Sandlot Games very well know this, and are preparing to launch Cake Mania’s fourth installment, Cake Mania Main Street, on the Nintendo DS. Instead of staying in the bakery like many past titles in the series, players will get to break out and upgrade their equipment within new shops including Jack’s Burger Barn, Risha’s Flowers and Tiny’s Sumo Sushi. Each location will also feature more than 50 upgrades to be purchased with the cash earned from the humorous cast of customers.
Cake Mania has certainly been successful over the years as a whole with over 2 Million copies downloaded and over 700,000 of the Nintendo DS versions sold to date, and Cake Mania Main Street looks to be the perfect addition to the series. No date is set in stone at the moment, but we do know that aspiring bakers will be able to get their hands on this one sometime this Spring.
A trailer for the Playstation 3 exclusive first-person shooter Killzone 3 has been released showcasing killstreaks and its looking as brutal as ever! The game primarily focuses on the multiplayer aspect of the gameplay, with quite a few killstreaks thrown in at a stage know as Bilgarsk Boulvard. Killzone fans will also notice the gameplay mode being played in this trailer is ‘search and retrieve’ where soldiers must hold onto an item known as the propaganda speaker, similar to a ‘capture the flag’ styled game. Trigger-happy PS3 owners should definitely keep an eye on this title as it’s shaping up to be one hell of a game!
Do you remember feeling slightly perturbed and frightened when playing Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies with a friend or on your own? That creepy music and eerie zombie laughter definitely made playing the bonus game play make you feel like you were in a Rob Zombie film. Now COD fans can rejoice with the recent release of a in-game soundtrack.
Activision and developer Treyarch has announced overnight the release of the Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies soundtrack. It will be available through iTunes, Amazon and Zune and other major digital media retailers, the Zombies soundtrack features 17 original tracks composed by Treyarch for the Zombies game mode. It will retail in Australia for $20.99.
With the game breaking records on its opening day, it won’t be a surprise if the soundtrack earns a reputation as well.
G’DAY EVERYONE !!! In only a few more hours Australias will be CELEBRATING AUSTRALIADAY!! A DAY WE ALL STAND UP BE PROUD THAT WE’RE ALL AUSTRALIAN AND MOST OF ALL THROW SOME LAMB CHOPS ON THE BARBIE – no not a sprimp – thats so 1985 !! Check out and have a laugh at the video below of Australia’s first “Lambassador” and his Plea to the United Nations to make January 26th INTERTNATIONALAUSTRALIADAY !! –
!! COMPETITIONTIME !!
Leave a comment below and let us know what you love most about Australia ? Is it our beautiful beaches, our cute and cuddly Koala Bears ? Our Cricket team ? Our Super HOT Accents ? MasterAbbott .. eerrmm *cough* sorry I thought I’d throw that in. Our beer ? Be as creative as possible. The best comment will win themselves a video game of some sort on one of the following platforms : XBOX, PS3, Nintendo Wii, or PC. (only one entry per person – competition ends 27th Jan – AU )
Happy Australia Day from The Capsule Computers Crew. Think of us tomorrow while were having a BEER – NO NOT FOSTERS !!! – thats the beer we give away because no one here in Australia wants it & throwing a few LAMB Chops on the Barbie !! 😉
Platform: Xbox 360 (reviewed)/Playstation 3/PC Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: Visceral Games Release Date: January 27, 2011 Price: $89.95
For anyone that played the original Dead Space then I’ll assure you right now that everything you loved about this game has been improved and enhanced in Visceral Games latest offering Dead Space 2. If you passed on the first one and are in doubts on this one then let me tell you right now that this game delivers full stop. This sequel is a vast improvement on the first game, switching from the claustrophobic corridors of the USG Ishimura to the large openness of the Sprawl, a highly populated space station orbiting Titan, one of the moons of Saturn where the horror takes place.
Story
Dead Space 2 kicks off three years after the events of the first game. Isaac Clarke mysteriously wakes up in a hospital ward on the highly populated space station The Sprawl, in the mitts of another Necromorphs (‘space zombies’) outbreak. Not only this, Isaac is suffering from his own internal madness in the form of dementia brought on by events that took place from the first game with the alien artifact The Marker, which makes a return in this game with the Necromorph invasion. It’s up to Isaac once again to survive the carnage and piece together how another Marker made its way onto the Sprawl.
The story in Dead Space 2 is more of a personal one in my opinion at least, for starters Isaac is no longer a mute, silent protagonist like in the first game and this time around he has a voice and face to show off. Not only this, players follow Isaac down his crippling dementia and the madness that is in his head still haunted by the death of his girlfriend Nicole on board the Ishimura.
The environment change from a space ship to a space station (especially at the start of the game), allows for more of a ‘human feel’ as players are witnessing the bloody, horrific outbreak of the Necromorph first hand, as opposed to the aftermath of it as seen in the first game’s set up. Although the latter is still seen through audio and text logs scattered around the place which reconstruct the game’s back story, which again adds to the game’s ‘human element’ while at the same time sheds light on the bigger picture between the Church of Unitology and the Government.
Gameplay
Anyone that’s played the original Dead Space will feel right at home here. Strategic dismemberment is back and as satisfying as ever, shooting off a Necromorph’s limbs one by one never gets old. Players can experiment with some new game play features that mixes up combat, added to the arsenal are an assortment of new weapons such as the Javelin Gun, Seeker Rifle and Detonator alongside the favourites the Plasma Cutter, Line Gun and Ripper from the first game. Not only this, players are now able to use a Necromorph’s limb against themselves by uses of the upgraded telekinesis power which turns severed limbs into deadly weapons.
As a survival horror game collecting scattered ammo, credits and valuable power nodes is vital your survival, stock up on health packs and ammo because you never know when there is going to be a “surprise” Necromorph attack in this game. The upgrading system from the first game is back, and is an excellent incentive for exploration as you look for valuable power nodes to upgrade your weapons and suit which is a must if you want to survive. Suits in the game have been improved from the first. Now suits provide specific bonuses such as weapon damage or store discounts depending on what suit is equipped by the player, more than just a cosmetic change. Isaac’s melee attacks have also received an upgrade in this game and now pack more of punch than ever before.
One thing I must mention is that Dead Space 2 plays out quite linear, whilst there is a degree of limited exploration; in general players are guided down a pre-determined path finishing with a set piece battle. This isn’t a bad thing as the linear experience is great fun but the new location, the large open Space Station the Sprawl seams to suggest an open world hub rather than just down a set path. Regardless, it’s still great filled with very cinematic moments and fantastic boss fights. Of notable mention set piece battles with the new enemy type ‘The Stalker’ feels very reminiscent of the Raptor scenes from the Jurassic Park movies. These new enemies will run, hide and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike, which is normal when your back is turned. Other memorable moments include the creepiest day care centre ever, flying straight down in zero gravity whilst dodging debris and another moment (without too many spoilers) that feels like something straight out of Gears of War 2.
New to Dead Space 2 is its multiplayer putting players in the shoes of either Sprawl Security Officers or Necromorphs in 4v4 objective based game modes. There is a slight story element tied into of Dead Space 2’s multiplayer depending on what map you play. For example in ‘Escape’ Security Officers need to traverse the facility to a set of escape pods to escape the Sprawl and in ‘Solar Array’, the team have been ordered by Tiedemann to fire the Solar Array upon a set coordinate. In all multiplayer games, the goal of the Necromorphs is simply stop the humans achieving their objective. Each team has their own unique powers and upgrades, the humans can unlock better suits and weapons and Necromorphs can unlock more health and improved attacks. Playing solo through the main game and switching to a team based multiplayer is different and fun. It does provide some good moments but honestly they don’t have anything compared to the massive set piece battles as seen in the later parts of the main game.
Graphics & Audio
Hands down this game looks and sounds fantastic. Guns and enemies sound like they should, sheer raw power. The ambient noises of the Sprawl, the underlying bass hum adds to the game’s immersion. The game’s realistic ‘silent void’ space vacuum is one that needs to be heard in person. The score and music is very good, especially the loud screeching upon scare tactics of the Necromorphs. This game is very gory – blood and guts are all on show here. Expect to see limbs being ripped off, exploding heads and a lot of blood, all presented wonderfully by the game’s great looking graphics which have been tweaked and improved whist still retaining the same look and feel that made the first game so memorable, much like the over-the-top deaths of Isaac Clarke in this game.
Overall
Dead Space 2 from start to finish is overall great experience. The Dead Space series likes to thank its fans PS3 players especially, as each copy of the PS3 version includes Dead Space: Extraction remade in HD for the Playstation Move. As well as, players that registered their copy of Dead Space iPad and iPhone will receive exclusive in-game content. Visceral Games has poured a lot of love, care and polish into this game and it really does show. Set piece battles are impressive, challenging and memorable while they last. Shooting Necromorphs never gets old, and thanks to the additional multiplayer it won’t as 4 on 4 battles are sure to eat up the hours.
In an interview with Dengeki Magazine the producer, Yoshinori Kitase, and the director, Motomu Toriyama, of Final Fantasy XIII-2 revealed some more information regarding FFXIII-2. Fans of Final Fantasy may recall the last time that Square Enix made a direct sequel to a Final Fantasy game in the form of Final Fantasy X-2; which was met with some derision due to the overall feel of the game. That will not be the case in FFXIII-2.
Translated by Siliconera, Kitase and Toriyama elaborated further by explaining that Final Fantasy XIII-2 will pick up right where FFXIII ended and will place players in the search for a mysterious invisible world called Bunibelle and the goddess Etro playing major parts in the plot. Also revealed was the fact that some other characters from FFXIII will be returning other than Lightning, but of course there will be unexpected changes to them as well. I’m not entirely sure how much darker they can make the storyline of Final Fantasy XIII considering there were moments of pure loss during the storyline originally, but we shall see.
Ready to hear some great Rolling Stones music? Then you are in luck because the latest trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops “First Strike” features part of the song Gimme Shelter. But enough about classic rock, the trailer itself shows off bits and pieces of every map that will be released in the First Strike map pack. Unfortunately there isn’t a whole lot of detail given for any map at all, but one thing that is worth taking notice of is the fact that we finally catch our first glimpse of the zombie map Ascension.
Call of Duty: Black Ops “First Strike” will be released next week on February 1200 MSP ($15) and is currently a timed Xbox 360 exclusive. Now if only the clan tags on players guns were as prominent as the map names on the guns shown in the video…
Dead Space 2 may have just hit store shelves today but that doesn’t mean that EA isn’t already announcing some more content for the game. Rather than the already available armor download packs, EA has revealed that they are planning on releasing a full story DLC which will be called Dead Space 2: Severed for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.
This DLC will include two separate chapters from the main storyline of Dead Space 2 and will see the return of Gabe and Lexine who featured in Dead Space: Extraction. Extraction was originally released for the Wii but also is available for all PS3 versions of Dead Space 2. The main character of these two chapters will be Gabe and players will try to get both Lexine and himself off of the Sprawl alive. No news of a release date or how much this DLC will cost at this time.
