The Behemoth have released their OFFICIAL trailer for their soon to be released game : BattleBlock Theater. Check it out below. This is one fun game when I played it at TGS last year. I couldn’t put it down the action is out there and wild as you can see from the trailer below. You will make a lot of friends but even more enemies when playing this online 😉 Ahh let the good times roll and controller throwing begin. Thanks Behemoth, we HEARTS YOU !!
Details :
Having shipwrecked on a mysterious island you find yourself both betrayed by your best friend Hatty and captured by the locals. All of this is happening while being forced into deadly performances. This however, is just the start of your problems.
BattleBlock Theater is our upcoming third title for the Xbox Live Arcade. Website to follow in the next few days and as we inch closer to the release of the title we’ll be unfolding more of the story online.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Developer:Rockstar Games Publisher: Rockstar Games Platforms:iPad, iPhone (reviewed) Release Date: January 07 2010 Price: $5.49 – Available Here
Grand Theft Auto has come a very long way since it was released way back in 1997 on the PC, who would of known that at the time that this franchise would become one of the biggest selling, most popular title/genre of all time. Now Rockstar games have brought Grand Theft Auto Chinatown wars to the Apple iPhone / iTouch.
As you might already be aware, Grand Theft Auto : Chinatown Wars initially was released on the Nintendo DS, which is currently the number 1 ranked game on metacritic at the moment. Then not long after it’s release was also made on the Sony PSP which too was welcomed into 2nd place on metacritic of all time best games on that hand held console. As metacritic still hasn’t started rating iPhone games yet, it’s a pitty because I believe that GTA : Chinatown Wars would find its place in the number one spot once again.
The iPhone version of Chinatown wars has been labelled the little brother or sister of both the Nintendo DS / PSP version. As people tend to believe that the iPhone is not capable of handing games of such depth, size and magnitude. Well this is where your all wrong. The iPhone version is nothing short of perfect in every way compared to both the Nintendo DS and PSP version, it has the best of both worlds. It contains tutorial elements that reference the PSP buttons and also some cell shaded graphics then on the flipside the touch / stylus mini games from the DS. This is taking full advantage and pushing the iPhone to the max. BUT in a good way.
Now one thing that I have to mention is and we all know too well, that there are no physical buttons or controls on the iPhone, being replaced by an onscreen virtual joystick. This will take time getting used to, but once you get the hang of it driving, shooting, punching, and doing all those car jacking mini games, everything will become second nature in no time at all.
Travelling on foot is very easy, the control system is responsive and not at all sluggish. You have three types of actions you can perform : Punching (very effective), Fly Kick attack, and jumping and leaping over short fences. Pressing the top right button if you have collected a weapon will allow you to auto target on an enemy and with the same button you use to punch and shoot instead. The auto-aim works fairly well, if you want to switch between targets you will have to move and face that particular enemy. As in the DS / PSP you can lock on to targets with the extra buttons this is not an option on the iPhone. But this is not a problem as the targeting system works quite well.
Jacking cars is also very simple when your close to a parked car or stopped car a car jack button appears in the middle of the screen down the bottom, pressing this will initiate the car jacking where you will either throw the driver out of the car and enter it yourself or begin a randomly generated timed mini game that will get you to hotwire it by pressing specific actions/movements/gestures on the screen before the timer runs out and alarm goes off.
Once in car you have a choice of five radio stations, and a three buttons on the right that will allow you to accelerate, break/reverse and shoot out the window. There are two available steering styles. Analog, which is how you control Huang when your’re on foot, or a left/right two button mode. Both are up to personal preference by default the left/right two button setup is initiated by default. If you don’t like it, jump into the system settings and change it to analog. I would recommend trying both and see which one best suites ur gameplay style. but both work well.
Now what’s Grand Theft Auto : Chinatown Wars all about you ask ? Well with the title Chinatown Wars the story focuses on an Asian feel as you play as Huang Lee, a son of a murdered Triad boss that comes to Liberty City to present his uncle with a family heirloom, but everything goes horribly wrong as soon as Huang steps foot on American soil, the family heirloom is stolen and Huang barely escapes with his life. It’s a great opening story. The game like every other GTA game comprises of missions, side missions, killing, stealing cars, a litte bit more killing, driving people around, and many other illegal activities which makes GTA such an enjoyable game.
One thing I am really happy with is the excellent assistance in getting new players to the genre up and running with a fantastic and very detailed tutorial missions that explain EVERYTHING and I do mean EVERYTHING about how GTA : Chinatown Wars works and plays. From walking, to punching, to car jacking to using the your emails and GPS. It’s perfect and I think more games should be taking notes on how Rockstar has done this.
Once the tutorial missions are out of the way then that’s when the fun really begins. As you all know in GTA you can do whatever you want. If you feel like driving around, killing innocent civilians, you can, you can meet up and do a bit of drug dealing with the local drug dealers, similar to the old classic dope wars game we all use to play when we were young, get tip offs from drugs dealers about whats going cheap buy all of the stash and then rush over to the other side of town and sell it at a high price !! make super big profits and be awarded for it. Just be careful to not get caught with the stash, if you do. BAM !! you lose it all.
Along with selling drugs, you can also try out some side missions as well such as the classic taxi, ambulance and also firefighter driving missions. There a truchload of other secret things to find. There are also lottery shops where you can try your luck with scratchie tickets, scratch and match to win big money. As in GTA IV you also meet random encounters on the streets who will ask you to do something for them. The amount of cool stuff in Chinatown Wars is EPIC and the best thing is it’s all available in the palm of your hand. You have all the freedom in the world to do whatever your heart desires. This is a living and breathing Liberty City the likes you have come to know and love.
There is one issue I have come across with Chinatown wars but is also present on nearly every other game I’ve played on the iPhone and that is, there is no save state to save your game progress if you receive a call or you need to reply to a SMS. If you are in the middle of a mission and you take that call from your mother or friend etc, then your in big trouble. Once you go back into the game you will be taken back to the last known good save game in your apartment. All I can recommend is that DO NOT TAKE THE CALL. Finish mission, save the game back at the safe house and then call back whoever it was that was trying to call you, they can wait. Chinatown Wars is more important 😉
Grand Theft Auto is by far the biggest game available on the Apple iPhone, to sum it up in one word it’s MASSIVE !! The features available on are also well polished, take for example the GPS system when driving works absolutely flawlessly as it guides you around the city to your next destination. Also the in-game email system and mobile phone messages are great. Missions get sent directly to your phone, characters notify you on what missions to take next and where the next major drug deal is happening so you can sell that heroin for top dollar 😉
In closing Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars on the Apple iPhone 3GS ran perfectly. There was no slowdown, no loss of framerate, for a game that is over 600mb uncompressed in size, everthing loads up quickly, gameplay is smooth and crisp and very responsive. With hours of playtime expect to have your USB charger handy on numerous occasions whilst attempting to finish this game. Grand Theft Auto : Chinatown Wars is priced at $9.99 US & $12.99 AUDwhich is a 1/3 of the price it sells for on both the Nintendo DS and PSP. It’s price for an Apple iTunes store application is a little higher than other apps, but look at the big picture, and what your paying for. Grand Theft Auto : Chinatown Wars has quality, fantastic gameplay, massive amount of game time. So I think the $9.99 price tag is nothing but well spent !!
If you’re a fan of the sandbox style open world crime games, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is by far the best available on the iPhone/iTouch at this time. The massive amount of missions, content, graphics, and gameplay will keep you busy for hours and hours.
“Ugh. This care package exploit is becoming the bane of my existence, but not for long. @infinityward is working on a permanent fix for it.”
What? they are going to fix it? This cheat (and yes it’s the only thing to call it) is so sad. Last night I counted someone calling in over 20 Care Packages in a single game, the sky always had aircraft in it.
Back in the lobby, I asked the cheater why he cheats? I got called all sorts of names in return. I persisted though – why do you cheat? Are you that bad that you can’t shoot, knife throw grenades like everyone else? The names continued – again I asked the cheater, why do you cheat? He eventually left.
95% of games in MW2 now have someone doing the Care package cheat. Now we wait for IW to fix the cheating – then we wait for MS to certify the fix. So maybe at least 2-3 weeks?
Xbox360 players of MW2 are still waiting for the Multiplayer matchmaking fixes which the PS3 and PC versions got late last year? Considering Xbox360 owners pay for the right to play online, what is taking so long? @fourzerotwo, do you like playing MW2 with lag?
I suppose this is what happens when there is no public beta to the biggest game of the year. Look at Battlefield: Bad Company 2, it is having a public beta and people are finding issues and I would expect Dice are going to fix them.
It took Microsoft long enough, but it’s FINALLY HERE !! If you have an Australian or New Zealand Xbox LIVE account. About 5 mins ago Microsoft Launched Inside Xbox to Australia and New Zealand customers !! Woo Hoo, we’re slowly catching up with the rest of the world 😉
If you’re not familiar with what Inside Xbox is here a little rundown :
Inside Xbox is a free daily digital magazine service for all Xbox LIVE members. Available exclusively on your Xbox 360, it’s a mine of information on the best new games, hot Marketplace content, special events, unique offers and competitions.
Microsoft have advised the following :
Every day we add a new entry, so there’s always something new for you to check out–whether it’s an achievement guide for Mass Effect 2 or instructions for changing your auto-sign-in settings. Can’t make it to E3 or the Tokyo Game Show? We’ll cover all those events on Inside Xbox so you don’t miss a thing.
Using Inside Xbox is very simple. If you’re signed into Xbox LIVE on your Xbox 360, all you have to do is browse to the ‘Inside Xbox’ channel. From there, just use your Xbox 360 controller to browse through the stories and press the A button to follow links to video features and Marketplace content.
Simple as that. Thank you Microsoft for throwing a bit of love down under.
New Deal of the Week for Xbox LIVE Gold members starts tomorrow: Capsule Computers Product Sponsors : Twisted Pixel Games : Splosion Man will be 50% off. If you haven’t sploded yet, and you should, now’s the time 😉
Check out the details below.
Splosion Man, one of the most awesome games of all time. The full version of Splosion Man includes an unlockable premium dashboard theme, free gamerpics, and even avatar accessories! You’ve sploded the rest, now splode the best. Splosion Man has a fifty level single-player campaign and a separate fifty level multiplayer cooperative campaign
Like we didn’t know this wasn’t going to happen. It’s just a pitty it wasn’t able to knock off GTA IV from it’s top position on metacritic. For anyone that hasn’t got Mass Effect 2 yet. I would urge you to go out and get it. Words cannot describe how great this game really is. Bioware has done an outstanding job. Check out the press release information from EA click on the more to read the rest of the article.
KPOWER Cafe !! A place where the Humble Geek can go grab himself something to eat, and whilst he’s doing so can enjoy all the comforts of home at the same time. MasterAbbott recently stubled across this magnificent cafe whilst he was walking in the city of Sydney. Stepping inside he was transported into a world full of gadgets, retro gaming, Internet and most of all food. It was amazing MasterAbbott felt like he was …. like … HOME … all the games he could play all the internet he could browse… and once again the food was out of this world.
Ladies and Gentlemen once again let me introduce you to a Geeks home away from home KPOWER CAFE . Located in the SYDNEY CBD at 277 Sussex St, KPOWER CAFE is a must for anyone that enjoys fine food and also playing games. Along with being able to play the old school retro style arcade table top games like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Wonderboy etc you can also get stuck in to the stand up arcade games like Street Fighter II as well. ALL FOR FREE. It’s all part of the great service that KPOWER provides to all customers. If your want you can test your skill on the Star Trek pinball machine or even better get all next gen and play some Playstation 3. A Geek cafe wouldn’t be complete with out MINDBALL. A game where you use your mind not your brawn, all you have to do is sink into some really cool comfy seats, strap a sensor around your head and let your mind go. Relax and let the ball roll over to your opponents side to win. You see magic really still does exist 😉
Along with the all this cool stuff to play, whilst your waiting for your food to arrive KPOWER also have a fantastic array of GADGETS to buy. The list is huge, there are just too many to mention, check out some of them in the screenshots below. Grab youself something special you know us geeks need to be pampered once in a while too you know 🙂
SO, If you’re ever in Sydney drop in and grab a bite to eat, the food is fantastic, the service is 1st class and also try to fit in some the super ULTRA UBER cool ice-cream dessert called “Dippin’ Dots” . There’re so cool MasterAbbott had all the dots you can see in the images shown below.
MasterAbbott recently sat down with Bogdan of Angry Mob Games. Creators of Guerrilla Bob recently released on the Apple iPhone / iTouch. Angry Mob Games is an independent company, formed by veteran game industry players, who set their goal to raise the quality of iPhone and iPod Touch titles, and deliver first-rate, polished, high quality titles and I believe that Angry Mob have done just that with the release of Guerrilla Bob.
Enjoy the interview
Question 1 – Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you have worked on in the past. And how long you have been working at Angry Mob Games. Also tell us a little bit about Angry Mob Games. How were they created, when was it first established, and how many employees does it have today. What’s the deal behind the name ANGRY MOB .. Are you all angry over there ? 🙂
We’re a rather small team of 2 designers/artists, 1 programmer and 3 additional artists. We all met at an anger management seminar and decided to channel our anger into an iPhone shooting game. 🙂Before starting the work on Guerrilla Bob for the iPhone and iPod Touch, we have worked on various console titles, for the Xbox 360 and PS3, like Smackdown vs RAW, Fuel and Saints Row 2.
Question 2 – What have been your greatest challenges designing and developing your first game Guerrilla Bob for the Apple iPhone / Touch. Run us through some of the issues or speed bumps you faced along the way.
Guerrilla Bob was set to be a stylized and funny top down cartoon shooter. We planned to follow the classic rules of top down shooters, but our designers fell in love with the game so much, that they kept adding new features all the time. That’s one of the reasons why the development took a little over eight months.
Other than that everything went pretty smooth. Because of our experience with previous console titles, the art pipeline was really straightforward and we knew right from the beginning what it would take to have the best looking characters, environments and animations, while keeping them optimized for the iPhone.
Question 3 – Have Angry Mob Games developed any other games prior to iPhone Market ? And If so what were they ?
Guerrilla Bob is our flagship title, and we took a lot of time to make it the most polished and fun experience that we could. Prior to this, our team has worked mostly on work for hire projects for different console titles that I previously mentioned.
Question 4 – For people that don’t know anything about, Guerrilla Bob. How would you describe the game and storyline to them and WHO IS Guerrilla Bob … WHAT’s HE ALL ABOUT 🙂
Guerrilla Bob it’s all about quantity, the quantity of dead enemies. He’s the best at killing them so this is what he decided to do. The army was going to nuke them but he sabotaged the plan just so that he can take them down one by one. He doesn’t really care how the enemies go; they can be suddenly hit by a deathly bullet, blown up by a nasty rocket of burned down to ashes. As long as they’re gone he’s satisfied.
Question 5 – What extra features/modes/ etc did you add to make Guerrilla Bob stand out in the crowd of other action/shooting style games that are out in the market at the moment.
We set out to provide a deeper experience by including more complex levels, and a lot more variety. These are lessons we learned from the console space. Guerrilla Bob will have the player exploring the levels as he progresses. They are still laid out in a linear fashion, but there will be secret areas to uncover, with all sorts of powerups. The game will also feature a survival mode, which will have Bob fight against an endless army.
You might not know but Chris Kramer the senior director of Communications and Community over at Capcom has decided to leave. In a decision that was easy Chris has been presented with another opportunity that he simply couldn’t pass up. Chris will be greatly missed as he was a big part of the Capcom-Unity Community and a well respected member of the Capcom team. We don’t yet know where Chris will be going but wherever it may be we wish him all the best of luck in his future job and endeavours.
Stay Classy Chris we will all miss you. But hopefully you wont be too far away 😉
