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Sunday Analytical: The Impossible Avatar Getaway Vs. The Impossible Game

Dylan Radcliffe
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Well, it is Sunday here in the United States, and I have another analytical article for you guys. I say analytical, because these are based heavily in my analysis or the analysis of a group which I then in turn analyze in further depth. Some of you may find them interesting, while others of you don’t really care. Either way, everything you are about to read is based on analysis, true stories, opinion and a bit of fact.

The following is an analysis of two indie games, The Impossible Avatar Getaway and The Impossible Game. A video is also included. This Analytical was going to be part of the last analyticalmtitlesiginality” last anytical e part of the last anytical “le Avatar Getaway and The Impossible Game. A video is also included  “Game Originality” for obvious reasons, but my mind shifted half way through and the analytical turned towards a slightly different point of view. However, I had the video that I had recorded and I had the chunks that were meant for the last analytical, no point letting good analysis go to waste. The following is not a review, just a breakdown of both games in a video format.

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The Impossible Avatar Getaway Vs. The Impossible Game

The Impossible Avatar Getaway and The Impossible Game are two very similar games that follow the same premise, get to the end of the level without dying. The task is much harder than it sounds as both games require you to use precision timing to avoid hazards. The Impossible Game was created first and The Impossible Avatar Getaway followed later and was created by a different person. Both games have their strong points and weaknesses and although The Impossible Avatar Getaway improves on many aspects of The Impossible Game but also loses some of the better elements. The Video Below shows the strong points of both games as well as showing some gameplay of both.

Clearly both are very similar games with their own differences and their own strengths. You can also probably see how these games were going to be the basis of my “Game Originality” post before I shifted my thoughts. Both games are very fun and addicting and worth playing.

Download The Impossible Avatar Getaway
Download The Impossible Game

Saving Private Sheep iPhone Review

Travis Bruno
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Title: Saving Private Sheep
Genre: Puzzle
Platform: iPhone (Reviwed)
Developer/Publisher: Bulky Pix
Price: $2.99 – Buy Now!

Overview:
A wolf in sheep’s clothing is sometimes more than just a turn of phrase. Sheep vs wolves and only your assistance can bring peace back to the farmland. In operation “Iron Wool” you must assist any sheep towards the ground, while eliminating any potential threats.

Story:
As with most puzzle games, the story of the game only serves to lay the framework for the gameplay. The story is that the owner of peaceful sheep has had to venture off to serve his country in war, and in his absence the wolves have begun to advance upon the peaceful lands in which the sheep graze. Thus to defend their home from the wolves, the sheep devise a cunning strategy of an airborne assault to claim back the land which has been occupied by the wolves.

Graphics:
The levels themselves are great to see, will full cartoonish style and flare. The sheep and the sheep-clothed wolves are well drawn and are interesting enough when they turn into a pentagonal shape. However there is much to behold happening both in the foreground and the background.

In the background while you are playing, you may see an UFO suddenly fly across the screen and abduct a random cow. Either that or you may even see more of your fellow para-sheep being landed in other areas outside of your own. Not only this, but in the foreground you can sometimes see a wolf’s head pop up and sneer, waiting for the mutton meal above.

Though these features do not add anything gameplay wise to the game itself, they are entirely welcome as it provides the feeling that there is more going on, as well as provide laughs, such as a wolf appearing right when the poor sheep falls to it’s clutches.

Gameplay:
The goal of every single level is to make any sheep shown in the area to land and stay on solid ground while forcing any disguised wolves into the abyss below. Your assistance is necessary to bring these sheep to the land, by shooting and destroying any obstacles which are holding said sheep from their destination.

Once the sheep reaches the ground a few seconds will pass and the sheep will unwrap himself from his fleece container and be ready to advance on.  There is a minor issue with this however, due to the fact that occasionally the sheep will begin to come out and allow the level to be over, before it is securely on the platform.  On a number of occasions the level continued fine even though the sheep fell off into the abyss.

There are four different types of obstacles which will impede your progress. There are wooden blocks which will be destroyed in only one shot; ice blocks which take two shots but can break under impact; explosive boxes which will cause extreme forces to shove anything out of the way; and finally heavy steel blocks that are indestructible and difficult to move even with explosive boxes.

There are currently over eighty different levels, and the difficulty does increase over time.  There is also a small side area occasionally which is not needed to progress, but introduces a level of higher difficulty earlier on in the game.  Here however is where there is a negative.  The game itself is enjoyable, however after a period of time most of the levels begin to look the same, even if there is a different way always to solve the puzzle, many times the level will appear with nearly the exact same set up, except with a variation of boxes added together to make it appear different.

Overall:
Saving Private Sheep is a very enjoyable puzzle game with an interesting twist on the whole sheep vs wolf story. There are some minor hiccups and issues, however nothing that truly takes away from the core gameplay. The game is entirely perfect for either a long time session, or even just a short five minute stop in.

I give Saving Private Sheep an amaaaaazing8-0-capsules-out-of-10

Earthworm Jim HD trailer and Gameloft contest

Dylan Radcliffe
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Below is a trailer for the upcoming XBLA version of Earthworm Jim HD set to release in the near future.

The video also shows a contest that rewards five winners flights to Gameloft’s studio for a sneak peek of Earthworm Jim HD on the Xbox Live Arcade this May. To enter, head over to the Gameloft Facebook page and become a fan, write a 500 character or less message on “Jim’s wall” that tells your “most memorable moment playing Earthworm Jim“. The entry period ends on May 2nd. I’d suggest to start working if you are interested because an essay less then 500 words will take FOREVER to write.

Konsoles For Kids Charity Auction !!

Philip Federico
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Microsoft are Celebrating their 1 million Xbox 360 sold in Australia and New Zealand,  and in doing so have organized this fantastic Charity Auction called Konsoles for Kids.

Check out some of the fantastic Celebrity signed Xbox 360 consoles available to be won simply by placing a bid.  The HALO Console below looks EPIC !! I WANT IT !!

Click on the image below to be take over to the Microsoft site and check out the rest of Xbox 360’s available.

Make a bid for a great cause !!

First gameplay of Pokémon Black & White shown

Travis Bruno
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After only nine days since the game’s official announcement, game play video has been broadcast on the weekly TV show called Pokémon Sunday in Japan. Though the only game play footage truly shown is just a bit of city walking, they do finally release what the mystery silhouette of the Pokémon was finally shown though the name itself has been withheld still.

The video of what was shown on Pokémon Sunday can be seen below;

It’s interesting to see that the environments are going to be more three dimensional and provide actual physical depth to the areas; although the battles appear to follow the same strict set up that has always been the standard, though they show that backgrounds are now shown during battle. Small little upgrade I suppose.

So what’s everyone think about this? Or better yet, how about those two Pokémon costumes they were wearing huh?

Two more Naughty Bear trailers

Dylan Radcliffe
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Below are two more trailers for the upcoming Naught Bear game set to release on the Xbox 360 and PS3  somewhere in 2010. The first trailer is a spoof on the Blaire Witch Project movie; should we call it the “Bear Witch Project”? The second trailer is a cutscene from the third stage of the game. How positively naughty!

Singularity currently listed for June 29th

Dylan Radcliffe
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Old things become new, new things age, the living die, and the dead become something in between. Singularity is a first person shooter that gives you the ability to adjust time around objects. Just watch the video. The release date was recently revealed to be June 29th. As always the date can change.

NPD Sales for the Month of March

Philip Federico
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Sony / Santa Monica Studio’s GOD OF WAR III smashed its way to the top of the MARCH NPD’s selling a whopping 1,100,000 units.  It just made it past Nintendo’s Pokemon SoulSilver on DS.  Congratulations to Sony for taking out the March sale, normally Nintendo are there smashing everyone else away with their Wii or DS title. 

Check the rest below : 

1. God Of War III (PS3, Sony) – 1,100,000
2. Pokémon SoulSilver (DS, Nintendo) – 1,020,000
3. Final Fantasy XIII (PS3, Square Enix) – 828,200
4. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (360, EA) – 825,500
5. Pokémon HeartGold (DS, Nintendo) – 761,200
6. Final Fantasy XIII (360, Square Enix) – 493,900
7. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii, Nintendo) – 457,400
8. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PS3, EA) – 451,200
9. Wii Fit Plus (Wii, Nintendo) – 429,600
10. MLB: The Show (PS3, Sony) – 349,200

Who do you think will win next month ? Let us know what you think 🙂

Solomon’s Keep iPhone Review

Philip Federico
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Solomon’s Keep iPhone Review

Title: Solomon’s Keep
Genre: ACTION/RPG
Platform: iPhone, iPod Touch
Developer: Raptisoft Games
Price: *INTRODUCTORY PRICE : $0.99 – BUY NOW

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Solomon’s Keep by Raptisoft Games is a top down dual analog action RPG.  Similar to Diablo & Torchlight.  You control a wizard on a mission to take down the Evil Solomon who has raised an army of undead minions in his keep.  To prove yourself to your fellow wizards you’re going to have to enter the keep and cleanse the tower of all evil and put an end to Solomon’s evil plans.  By doing this you’ll be accepted into the wizard ranks and everyone will give you the respect you deserve.

Solomon’s keep has 20 levels to explore and let me tell you it might start off easy but then gets extremely hard if you don’t choose your skills wisely.  You start off with Magic Missile which is recommended for newcomers but you have other attacks such as lightning, acid rain, and even fireball to name a few at your disposal (Fireball is the one I ended up using)  Each skill has a sub category.  For example if you start using Fireball you can of course level it up so it can do more damage, but then you can select other skills like embers or explode that will cause the fireball to explode on impact causing even more damage to surrounding enemies, and embers which will cause little bits of fire to break off and cause damage to enemies.

There are multiple spells and skills to choose from when you level up. But one thing that I found quite annoying was once you do level up you dont get to choose or allocate skill points to a specific ability.  As shown in the video review below,  only a list of 3 spells or Skills appear and you can only choose from them.  If you don’t like any, you’re pretty much stuck with picking one of them.  This could cause all sorts of problems down the track as you might not have enough power or skills to take on harder and tougher enemies. 

Another issue is the lack of a save game.  If you’re clearing out a level and you die right at the end of it.  Your taken back right to the beginning of that tower level.  Now if you had leveled up and picked a really cool spell or ability, this is lost and you have to hope you get the same one again when you level up.  ( I have since found out that if you use the town portal key to go back into town to buy or sell items the game is saved once you return back to the tower, but by doing so you have to exit the game by pressing the iPhone HOME button and then reloading the game – very annoying and time consuming)   That was the only thing that stopped me from throwing my iPhone against the wall.  I have to say Solomon’s Keep really gave me a good challenge there isn’t many games out there that make me wanna smash my controller or in this case my iPhone but Solomon’s Keep was able to do that… but in a good way 😉

Gameplay is challenging and the enemies are well designed.  The action is great, there are also mini bosses to take on that breaks the game play up from destroying the same old monsters ( but what do you expect to find in a tower full of undead creatures)  The mini bosses are well a designed and have their own special abilities that you need to learn to over come them.  Finally the final Boss Battle was brilliant and very challenging.  No spoilers but expect to scream and yell and cry all at the same time, but in a good way as he’s no push over !!

Ok Video Review time :  Everything you need to know about Solomon’s Keep is covered.  Click on the play and enjoy the review.

Capsule Computers would like to give Solomon’s Keep a 7.5 Capsules Out of 10

7-5-capsules-out-of-10

Overall Solomon’s Keep is a great little action / rpg game that will keep you busy for hours.  The lack of a save game, the ability to choose your own skills when leveling up and the little issue with the inventory back to game-play / control movement are quite annoying but looking at the big picture Raptisoft Games have done a great job at their first attempt in creating a fun and certainly very challenging action / rpg game.  If you love your RPG’s then give Solomon’s Keep a go.

Splinter Cell: Conviction Special Edition Contents for download

Dylan Radcliffe
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As you all might know the USB, that Ubisoft had planned to have the extra content on, didn’t work. So instead UBISOFT have supplied a download link where anyone and everyone can download all the special content that would have been available on the USB. Enjoy all the goodies that would have cost you $10 in the original collector’s edition.

Click here to start the download.

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