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Dominion Review

Jack Joly
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Dominion
Rating: 4+
Platform: iPhone/iPod Touch
Release Date: Out Now
Developer: Dot Matrix
Publisher: Chillingo
Price: (US)$1.99
BUY NOW

Have you ever played Risk? If so, did you enjoy playing it? If you answered yes to both of these questions, you are in for a real treat with Dominion, a revamped version of the classic board game, Risk. As a platform, the iPhone lends itself really well to the world of board games: the easy-to-use touch screen interface, the size of it and the ability to put it in your pocket and take it wherever you please. It’s like those travel board games, minature versions of the real thing designed to be portable, except you don’t have to worry about losing the pieces down the side of the seat, and with the iPhone you can neatly store loads of games in one place to take with you. In fact it’s nothing like travel board games. It’s a whole lot better.

Dominion is no exception, and cleanly stores one of my all-time favorite board games in virtual form. It is a very nice rendition of the classic board game, which makes the transfer very well, without losing too much of the the board game’s character. The strategy game has been simplified, with no actual troops, which have instead been replaced by numbers representational of the size of your forces. Similarly to the board game Risk, there are still the standard reinforcement phases before, and the movement phases after the bulk of you turn in which you attack. However, in contrast to the similarly natured game which this is undoubtedly based on, because Dominion is a video game, the board and the assignment of countries is all generated automatically, removing the time-consuming start-up time of the board game which many found off-putting.

The touch screen controls are simple, almost instinctive too, and certainly well-mapped on the iPhone’s screen. For example, you drag across the screen to shift along the map, pinch to zoom, and touch the attacking region then the defending region to initiate an attack. All these functions should come as second nature to most, especially those with experience with Risk and the iPhone. There is also a tutorial upon your first boot-up of the game, which the game suggests you play, which while the controls are easy to pick-up, is still beneficial to play, as with any new game.

The game does take up a good deal of time, which varies depending on the level of difficulty you are playing on. On the easiest setting, you should have no trouble at all sweeping through the enemy once you start to get the hang of things, whereas on the higher settings, which are quite a significant step up in difficulty, you should find it more challenging and as a result you could get sucked into battles of epic proportions. Dominion is not a game which you can jump into for a short while here and there. Much like the board game Risk, despite vast reductions in playtime in comparison due to an automatic board setup, you will generally have to set aside a decent-sized period of time to play. There are a few of options to spice things up for single player, including changing the winning conditions of the game via the option to create a custom game. Additionally, online compatibility means you can play multiplayer with people all over the world, as well as locally with your friends. It is usually more fun being pitted in tactical battle with another human being rather than AI, so multiplayer is a welcome inclusion.

In conclusion, Dominion is a well polished version of a classic board game. It benefits from a simple and clear setup, and well-intergrated touch screen controls. Different objectives in game, and customisation options make for a weighty one player experience, and the board game style means you’ll be happy to play it over and over again. Multiplayer is just the icing on the cake, and helps to create the social aspect of playing a board game in this virtual version. All this for a bargain price. The game offers great value for money. However, it has to be said that the strategic and slightly long-winded style of the game isn’t for everyone, and if you didn’t like Risk or any of the spin-offs in board game form, chances are you won’t enjoy this either.

Pros

  • Instinctive controls
  • Good transfer of a classic board game
  • Online multiplayer
  • Great value for money

Cons

  • Not for everyone
  • Time-consuming- can’t be played for short periods of time

8-0-capsules-out-of-10

Alan Wake Updated to 1250g

Dylan Radcliffe
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The Signal, Alan Wake’s achievement list has been updated to 1250 points. It is now ready for “The Signal” DLC.

There isn’t much info on the DLC but you can speculate on the words of Oskari Häkkinen who stated, “The game add-ons aren’t telling more of the story, so to speak. It’ll give you a different perspective on the things you’ve done on season one and then trying to set you up for the possible things you’re going to do in season two.”

The Signal is available on July 27th for 560 Microsoft Points or free if you bought the game new.

Below are the achievements in the DLC. There are 8 achievements worth 250g. Remedy sure does like collection achievements. I just wish their was a better system that tells you how many there are left in each level rather then just how many total.


  • A Friend in Need – 25 – Special 1: Find someone to help you.
  • A Friend Indeed – 50 – Special 1: Follow the signal to its conclusion.
  • Fast and Furious – 25 – Special 1: Make it through the final battle in less than 1 minute and 30 seconds.
  • Words Will Never Harm You – 25 – Special 1: Trigger all of the furnaces in the basement.
  • Run-On Sentence – 50 – Special 1: Complete the episode without reloading the game or restarting a checkpoint.
  • License Revoked – 20 – Special 1: Complete the episode without using a single vehicle.
  • Tick Tock – 30 – Special 1: Discover 10 hidden alarm clocks.
  • Cardboard Companions – 25 – Special 1: Discover all of the cardboard standees.

Possible Arkham Asylum Sequel Titles

Dylan Radcliffe
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Warner Bros. has gone out and splurged on a whole bunch of domain names recently. Below you will find the list of new domains they have purchased.

The first nine seem like possible sequel titles, while the last are most likely referenced in game, and Warner Bros. has to buy them in order to make sure no one else has them. Maybe we will even be treated to some online easter eggs.

What do you guys think is the best possible sequel title? Have any better idea?

The definition of Irony

Dylan Radcliffe
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The definition of Irony

Everyone! say it with me on three.

1…

2…

3…

IRONY!!

ESRB “accidentally” replied to about 1000 people who complained about the REAL ID problem on WoW. These are the people that were so upset about their their names appearing on the Blizzard Forums that they went and Emailed ESRB to complain about it. Now their Emails have been given out to about 1000 random strangers. Even better, the ESRB email is “[email protected]”. Anybody want to complain about this new breach of privacy? I didn’t think so.

Check out the reply below.

“Thank you for contacting the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) regarding the policy recently announced by Blizzard Entertainment which would have required participants in its official forums to post comments using their real first and last names, and for expressing your concerns regarding potential privacy implications.

It is our understanding that Blizzard has provided an update announcing that it will not be implementing the above-referenced policy with respect to its forums, and users will not be required to post using their real names. You can read Blizzard’s announcement regarding this most recent development at http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=25968987278&sid=1&pageNo=1.

Separately, if you have questions regarding Blizzard’s implementation of its Real ID option — which by our understanding is unrelated to Blizzard’s plans for its forums — and/or the new capabilities this option offers, they will likely be answered by reviewing the information posted at http://www.battle.net/realid/.

ESRB, through its Privacy Online program, helps companies develop practices to safeguard users’ personal information online while still providing a safe and enjoyable video game experience for all. We appreciate your taking the time to contact us with your concerns, and please feel free to direct any future inquiries you may have regarding online privacy to our attention.

Regards,

Entertainment Software Rating Board”

Review- Secret Files: Tunguska for the Nintendo DS

Scott Bullock
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Developer: Fusionsphere Systems/Animation Arts
Released: June 30th, 2010
Genre: Adventure/Puzzle
Platform : NDS

“Secret Files: Tunguska” has done what I have hoped a game would do for a long time; it has renewed my faith in the industry’s ability to make a halfway decent point-and-click adventure game.

As a Sierra paycheck is what fed me for the first six or so years of my life, I feel I have a rather intimate connection to the old-school adventure game. Some of my first attempts at gaming were designed by Roberta Williams, so playing Secret Files was like a walk down memory lane. This is good in some ways, but bad in several others.

Central to the story is the Tunguska Event; a mysterious explosion in the skies of Siberia in 1908. Now hypothesized to have been a small asteroid explosion, the game insinuates a somewhat more… sinister… explanation.You follow protagonist Nina Kalenkov in her search for her missing father, noted for conducting research into said event. Not the most inventive motivation, but I’ll forgive them that, for now. After he was kidnapped by mysterious black-robed beings in his museum in Berlin, his daughter has to follow his trail across the globe and back, accompanied by her father’s co-worker, Max Gruber. Along the way, she finds seemingly hundreds of random objects, picks all of them up (just in case, you see) and keeps them in her pockets. You never know when you might have to staple a cell phone to a cat, after all. This is one of those moments when a little bit of advancement in adventure gaming in the past ten years would have been much appreciated. It has the same “pick up everything that looks a little bit out of place and keep it  in your pocket” mechanic as the Kings Quest games, and seems to have thought it was also a good idea to keep the ludicrous uses for those items intact. That thing about attaching a phone to a cat? I wasn’t kidding.

But what really got to me about the items and silliness was how absolutely contrived it all felt. While you can’t expect them to let you waltz obstacleless through the game, it seems like they latched on to every opportunity they could to make you solve a puzzle. I can just here Nina’s thoughts, “Oh look! There’s a key in daddy’s fishtank! I bet it opens this box! Now, let’s see… I could either pry the top off with any of the multitude of items at hand, or I could go through a convoluted set of events to fix a girls bike in order to obtain a magnet, and fish the key out.” And wouldn’t you know it, she chooses the latter option. And why in hell did a magnet seem like appropriate recompense for fixing a bike? Things like this happen all the time, and really get in the way of suspending disbelief.

On the plus side, the pretty graphics and passable voice acting put’s the old-fashioned gameplay in pretty new wrapping paper. But sometimes, that fairly decent voice acting is a bit ruined by what those voices are made to say. It’s like the campiest noir writer ever decided to branch out into video games. “Listen, girlie. I’ve been in the business for almost 40 years–I know when something stinks–and this thing really stinks!” says some random gumshoe, who of course refuses to help find Nina’s father. Gems like that litter the game, and are almost literally painful to hear.

To tack on to the cliched, campy feeling, the cut-scenes are awash in the stock-and-trade of cheesy horror directors. Camera pans reveal cars trailing the heroine, spooky villains appear behind her in mirrors, and so on.

But as I see it, the game may have its faults, but the atmosphere, visuals, and old point-and-click stand-bys make the game a worthy homage to the classics. Sure, it felt like playing something that was made over ten years ago, but there’s some merit in that, isn’t there?

For those of you with no urge to read the whole article, here’s a summery:

Pros:

  • Faithful throwback to the mid-90’s point-and-click adventure games
  • Decently voice acted
  • Eye-pleasing visuals (especially for the DS)
  • Creepy and occasionally beautiful atmospheric settings

Cons:

  • Painfully written
  • Characters with the depth of a roadside puddle
  • Increasingly nonsensical item combinations and solutions
  • Maybe too much of a throwback to those old games

I give it 6 out of 10 capsules.

6-0-capsules-out-of-10

Deadliest Warrior: The Game joins the XBLA Line-up on July 14th..

Dustin Spencer
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If you have ever seen Spike TV’s “Deadliest Warrior”, you know about the battles of two different famed warriors put up against each other in a duel to the death.

Spike TV knows when a show is a hit, why not take advantage of the awesome concept of the show and turn it into a even better game.

That leads us to what is now “Deadliest Warrior The Game”. Developed by Pipeworks, now you will be able to test your own theories at home with this new action-packed fighting game. With online tournaments, leaderboards, and a vast array of weaponry, fans will feel right at home destroying some of the most brutal killers of all time. There is also one hit kills and the ability tosever your opponents limbs from their body, which will add to the realism of the way your match plays out.

You can play as these mighty warriors in a fight to the death:

  • Apache
  • Pirate
  • Viking
  • Knight
  • Ninja
  • Samurai
  • Spartan
  • Centurion

Deadliest Warrior The Game is set to release on the Xbox Live Arcade on July 14th for 800 points. Who knows, with all of the killing of your enemies, you might learn something new about them as well.

Pokemon Black and White to have DSi Video Chat?

Dustin Spencer
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With Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver introducing us to the handy pedometer, the Poke-Walker in the last addition to the series, you would think technology would be at it’s peak for the Nintendo DS line of the series. It seems not be the case as a first in portable gaming history may be among all fans of the Pokemon series, Live Video Chats.

CoroCoro Comic’s newest issue (broke down via Serebii.net ) is flooded with a lot of new info and new Pokemon in the series, but the feature that has the most gravity is the new “Live Caster” mode which lets you and a friend have a video chat over Wi-Fi, or up to a 4 person local video chat.

This feature sounds awesome, though at first thought, you can imagine some controversy that may come if the feature does in fact transfer over from Japan. The DSi camera really has not had much of a purpose other than taking photos, and if this “Live Caster” mode is as great as it sounds and is not abused, this could be a sign of huge things to come with community interaction brought to you by Nintendo.

Pokemon Back and White are scheduled for release on September 18th in Japan and Spring 2011 for the U.S. and PAL Regions.

Grab Your Chicken Cannon and Get Ready for DeathSpank, Available This Week for the XBLA and PSN!

Dustin Spencer
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In recent years, Action RPGs have been a huge market in the industry. July marks the release of EA and Hothead Games (Swarm, Penny Arcade Adventures) newest release, Deathspank. Deathspank is no ordinary, run of the mill Action RPG though, as it blends comedy with gameplay to create one hilariously epic journey.

You play as Deathspank, the “Dispenser of Justice”, “Vanquisher of Evil” and “Hero to the Downtrodden”. His destiny? To track down the mysterious artifact simply known as “The Artifact”. Deathspank features local co-op game-play, where you and a friend can take control of Deathspank and his loyal sidekick, Sparkles the Wizard. Sparkle’s magic abilities will become the perfect balance with Deathspank’s weapon based attacks to crush minions and battle all of the unique world’s injustice.

Weapons of course are one of the biggest features in Deathspank. Players can take control of the Chicken Cannon, the Demon Poop Hammer, and many more off the wall weapons that are sure to be strike pure fear and odor into any creature that stands in his presence.

Along the way DeathSpank and Sparkles will rescue some orphans, defeat a local tyrant, help an aging adventurer, and dive headlong into an even deeper mystery in an epic action RPG that includes collecting loot, solving crazy puzzles, witty dialogue, collecting loot, a ton of weapons, fun and accessible action, and of course, collecting loot.

Deathspank will be on the Xbox Live Arcade for 1200 points and on the PSN for $14.99. The XBLA version will be released on July 14th and PSN a day earlier on July 13th. Buy it and have your console considered Elite (or even more ELITE! for you 360 owners) and worthy of the Master of all Heroes!

Limited Edition Dead Rising 2 Outbreak Edition

Philip Federico
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Limited Edition Dead Rising 2 Outbreak Edition

– INCLUDES TWELVE INCH ZOMBIE WITH INTERCHANGEABLE HEADS, YES I SAID INTERCHANGEABLE –

Zombie fans, look no further. The Dead Rising 2 Outbreak Edition is your ULTIMATE  weapon in the fight against an oncoming zombie apocalypse destined for Fortune City this September 30. Yes, you heard right, The Dead Rising 2 Outbreak Edition features  A ZOMBIE WITH INTERCHANGEABLE HEADS.

The Dead Rising 2 Outbreak Edition is limited run of only 700 PER FORMAT (Xbox 360 and PS3) across the whole of Australia. 

The Dead Rising 2 Outbreak Edition includes:

  • Detailed 12 inch figurine complete with INTERCHANGEABLE HEADS
  • Dead Rising 2 game
  • A making of the game DVD
  • A “Sports Fan Theme Pack” which gives our hero Chuck Greene exclusive skills and a ‘unique’ costume for facing zombie hordes
  • A complete guide to making your own zombie-destroying weapons in our Tape it or Die catalogue – a must for all potential Terror is Reality contestants. 

PLUS, The Dead Rising 2 Outbreak Edition includes console specific extras 

  • PS3 owners receive a unique PS3 Dynamic Theme for your console
  • Xbox 360 owners receive the ‘Dead Rising Sun’ full length movie (featuring the directorial debut of Dead Rising 2 Producer Keiji Inafune-san), set in the world of Dead Rising with an exclusive unseen ending.  

RRP is $169.95 and The Dead Rising 2 Outbreak Edition is available at EB GAMES, JB Hifi & GAME

Assault Squadron Review

Travis Bruno
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Assault Squadron
Company: Chillingo
Platform: iPhone (Reviewed), iPad
Release Date: May 29, 2010
Price: $2.99 –Buy Now!
Story:
When the world detects an unknown vessel suddenly appearing out of a worm hole in space, it begins to make its way towards Earth. Despite all efforts to contact said vessel, they were met with nothing but silence. That is until the vessel unleashed countless enemy craft that descended upon the planet and began destroying anything and everything in their path. But the world quickly turns to the Assault Squadron, elite pilots who are now tasked with saving the entire world.

This may be your classic science fiction storyline that is nearly as cookie cutter as they come. That is until you see the way that the story is presented; with a full CG cutscene before each of the six missions. If there is any fault to this game is that the eventual length of the game is short and the story reflects this.

Graphics & Sound:
Every cutscene that plays before a level shows advanced computer graphic design and every bit of it is stunning. They are as crisp as you can imagine playing on an iPhone/iTouch and may make you wonder what platform you are actually playing on.

The developers boast a stunning 60 frames per second and I am quite quick to admit that there boasting is completely understandable. Not only do the cutscenes themselves run smoothly but every bit of the game feels completely polished. From the bullets your shooting and dodging to the ships flying around on the screen, you will not feel a single bit of slow down regardless of which generation of iPhone/iTouch you are playing on.

Plus there are certain levels that the game will orient itself between being a vertical scrolling shooter, to a side scrolling shooter which is a nice touch. You can see which version a level will be played as on the mission briefing screen. This is just a small feature but does help break up the standard scrolling monotony.

Not only that but Assault Squadron boasts a fully voiced narrator and mission briefer. The introduction cut scene and mission briefing feature the voice over that is quite effective with no subtitle backing, but it is not necessary as the voice is completely understandable. Couple this with completely believable explosions and a very well chose background music and it is a treat for the ears.

Gameplay:
As with any good Shoot ‘em Up (Shmup) you have the option to pick between three varying levels of difficulty when you start up your six level campaign. But with Assault Squadron, you picking more than just how many continues you have, you are also picking your own level of hell.

Some people reading this may recognize the term “Bullet Hell.” For those that don’t Bullet Hell is something akin to fighting an army with a pea shooter. On the harder difficulties the game throws countless enemy vessels against you and each of these is shooting at you trying to destroy you, in some cases literally filling the screen with bullets.

These bullets are entirely survivable however as your ship is equipped with shields which can take a certain amount of hits before being destroyed and you are forced to use a continue to avoid a game over. This is a good thing as the control scheme can sometimes be a bit finicky.

There are a few different choices for control; exact touch, relative touch, joystick, and tilt. Of the four choices the most effective are the first two, as the joystick feels a bit wrong while the tilt controls can be very frustrating as one wrong movement can cause your ship to careen into a hailstorm of bullets. The touch controls however are very well done and these are most likely the ones you will be using.

This is also good considering that to use specials you will also have to touch certain areas of the screen to activate them. Either using your bomb or the special weapon equipped to each ship. There are two beginning ships and then there are two more to unlock down the line, by beating the game in Casual, and then beating the game on any of the other harder difficulties.

Overall:
Assault Squadron is both graphically amazing and sounds amazing. The gameplay is quite flawless with only a hint of issue that comes with the controls. But this is easily remedied through picking another control option. The unique way that the game changes from a vertical and a side scrolling shooter are a nice touch on top of that.

I give Assault Squadron:
8-0-capsules-out-of-10

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