Author: The_acz

Geekscape Games Reviews: ‘Project Spark: Conker Play and Create’

by The_acz

Over one year ago during E3 2014, Microsoft showed off a trailer for one of their upcoming titles called Project Spark. For those who don’t know, Project Spark is a creator driven game along the likes of LittleBigPlanet in which the game’s campaign mode is made entirely from the in game level editor. This makes it possible to perfectly re-create those levels, or even design your own. At the end of the trailer, everyone was greeted to a nice surprise; as it was announced that Conker the squirrel would be a playable character in some form or another. It was also announced that he’d be voiced by the creator of the Conker series himself, Chris Seavor.

Flash forward to about a year later, where it’s now revealed that the Conker content for Project Spark will be an episodic series of games along with creation assets, so fans can make their own Conker games.  Now, even though the creation pack has been out for some time, I’ve only now gotten around to it, because Project Spark is celebrating their first successful year after launch. To commemorate this, many expansions and bundles are half priced including the Conker set. I figured I’d check it out since I had $5 in Xbox credit from pre ordering Rare Replay.conker

So, Is the Conker Play and Create Bundle a steal of a deal, or does it have the makings of another bad fur day? When you buy the Bundle you get 2 things. These include Conker’s Big Reunion Episode 1, and Conker: Hail to the Remix. Let’s start with Conker’s Big Reunion First.

The story of Big Reunion takes place 10 years after the events of bad fur day, but instead of being a direct sequel, it’s just a side story. The plot synopsis is as follows: 10 years have passed since the events of Bad Fur Day, and to celebrate, Conker is hosting a reunion for all of his friends at his favorite bar, The Cock and Plucker. Once he arrives, he is unable to enter because he is told by Birdy the Scarecrow that he has a $300 bar tab he needs to pay off.  From there, Conker sets off on a brand new adventure to pay off his tab and join his reunion.

Art style & Sound

To start off with, the art style is very nice. The game takes a bit more inspiration from the original Bad Fur Day instead of Live and Reloaded. Environments are bright, and Conker and co. are very nicely re-designed to look a bit more simplistic, but also very detailed. Everything from Conker’s fur to Birdy’s loose hay, to even the Tediz fluff and hand stitched texture are really welcome and suit the characters very well.

conker 3

Sound is also pretty top notch. Original BFD composer, Robin Beanland, returns, once again, to score Big Reunion. Most of them are just slight updates of previous Conker tunes but are still as catchy and memorable as ever. The voice acting is also top notch. Once again, Chris Seavor, creator and voice of everyone’s favorite squirrel himself, returns to voice the titular character himself and all of his friends. Seavor is just as sharp witted as ever and never misses a single joke or beat.

Gameplay

Gameplay is identical to Bad Fur Day. Conker can run jump and even use his tail helicopter to double jump and hover across large gaps. He also comes equipped with his trusty Frying Pan which he uses to clobber any Tediz in sight. There are 3 specific areas in this episode that you’ll be exploring; each of which comes with their own gameplay style.

There’s the Tediz secret hideout which consists of a first person shooter segment, and a battle that you could say is very BALLSY. The Tediz brewery, which focuses on platforming, and even getting drunk enough to bypass a wall of beer that is aggressively spraying you off the edge. 3rd and final, you have the Tediz lumberyard, in which you have to sneak your way through the forest Metal Gear Solid style and even face off against a chainsaw wielding maniac with a twist. There’s some more stuff in there, but I’ll save that for if you decide to play through it. The different gameplay styles are very welcome and help the game from becoming too repetitive and stale.Conker 2

The only real downsides are that the game is on the very short side. It’ll only take you about 30 minutes – An hour to complete the game, and there really isn’t anything to go back to after you complete the episode. Other than that, Conker’s Big Reunion is a fun, if not short, fun tribute to the series. Hopefully we won’t have to wait much longer for the developers, Team Dakota, to make the 2nd episode.

Hail to the Remix

The last thing to touch upon is Conker: Hail to the Remix. This is the creation pack that you get when you purchase the play and create bundle. This creation pack comes with everything seen in Big Reunion Episode 1. Everything from Conker, to Birdy, to even Fajo the Money Wad is there. It even comes with the Windy Grasslands Biome used to make the setting for the episode. The creation tools are very extensive and have given way to some very cool community levels. I’d recommend trying out R.T and Conker’s Other Bad Day Tribute just to name a few.

You also get a Conker as a playable champion for some of the other modes in Project Spark including Crossroads Adventure and Champion’s Quest: Void Storm. In these modes, Conker comes equipped with his Baseball Bat that he used in Live and Reloaded and his trusty SMG. He also has a special ability you can activate. When you defeat enemies, they will leave behind a wad of cash which Conker can collect. Once Conker collects at least 4 of those, you can summon a giant Context Sensitive Button out of nowhere and unleash a devastating special attack. Depending on your level, your special attacks can be anything from Deadly farts and throwing flaming cocktails, to turning into a giant lizard monster and calling in poo air strikes.

conker 1

Final Verdict

All in all, the Conker Play and Create Bundle is a love letter to all things Conker. People who have played Bad Fur Day, wanting desperately for a long awaited sequel won’t find that here.  However, they’ll still find enjoyment in it. This is also great for people who need a quick Conker fix before Rare Replay comes out. I was able to snag it for only $5, but even $10 is a steal for this pack and definitely worth picking it up. What’s even better is that Project Spark is FREE on both Xbox One and PC.

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and create some awesome new Conker games!

Final Rating: Buy

‘ZombiU’ being ported to PS4, Xbox One, and PC as ‘Zombi’

by The_acz

After 3 years of being an exclusive for the struggling console, the survival horror game ZombiU is now making its way to the PS4, Xbox One, and PC on August 18th as just Zombi. The game received mostly praise with it’s initial Wii U release, most of it which came from the very smooth integration of the Wii U Gamepad. I had the chance to rent the game back when it launched and felt it was a pretty solid experience. It should be noted that Zombi will be released only on digital platforms, so people hoping to snag a physical copy of the game are in for some disappointing news. Here’s the official announce trailer for the game. Will you be picking up Zombi when it launches?

Nintendo Adding 3 New ‘Kirby’ Titles To The E-Shop In Honor of Its Birthday

by The_acz

 

Looks like Kirby fans are in for a treat. According to their Twitter profile, The company will be releasing 3 Kirby games on July 30th to coincide with the pink puffball’s 23rd birthday. As of right now, the 3 games are currently a mystery, but we should be in for a nice surprise come Thursday!

While we wait to celebrate, check out this old commercial for Kirby Superstar on Super Nintendo.

Which as-yet-unreleased Kirby titles would you like to see on the eShop?

Geekscape Games Review: ‘The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth 3DS’

by The_acz

Editor’s Note: It should be stated that the handheld version of The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth is only available to New 3DS owners due to technical limitations with the regular 3DS/2DS systems.

After almost a year of fan outreach and many private discussions with them, Nintendo owners have been finally graced with The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth for the Wii U and New 3DS. Created back in September of 2011 for the PC, The Binding of Isaac follows a young boy named Isaac, who escapes into his basement after his religious mother is told by God himself that she must kill her own son to prove her loyalty to him. With 6 playable characters, and more than 100 different items and dungeon possibilities, the original game went to sell over 2 million copies as well as receive a DLC pack which added an additional 100+ items, a new character, and much more.

Now with Rebirth, on top of everything mentioned above the game has received a graphical upgrade as well as an additional 4 characters, another 100-200+ items, and even more things that would take me this entire review to talk about. So, now that the game has finally been reborn on Nintendo systems, was the wait really worth it? The answer without a doubt is a big resounding YES! Not only is The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth just as addicting as ever, but a couple of tweaks and changes made to the handheld version make the 3DS the definitive Binding of Isaac experience.

Isaac 2

Art Style

Let’s start with visuals. The game’s 16-Bit visual art style is just as beautiful on the 3DS as it is on the home console versions. All of the characters are nicely animated and the paper drawing cut scenes during the intro and ending of the game provide a charm to the overall presentation. There are also fully animated endings for every attainable finale,  each looking very crisp and smooth. You can tell a lot of effort was put into making the visuals the best they can to fully take advantage of the New 3DS’s hardware.

Gameplay and Controls

The gameplay also makes the game stand out from the rest. The game plays as a top down roguelike dungeon crawler. Think of a game entirely based of the dungeons from The Legend of Zelda, but each time you play, the entire dungeon is different. Everything from the dungeon layout, to the items, enemies, and even bosses promises a brand new experience each time you start the game. You can however, play some of them over again. The game has a feature where it gives you a special seed code that you can enter to always get that layout. This is good if you’re hoping to speed run the game or just practice a specific enemy or boss attack pattern.Isaac 4

The controls help on delivering a satisfying experience. You can move and shoot 2 different ways. Moving is done using the circle and the D-pads, while shooting uses the 4 main face buttons and even support for the New 3DS C-stick. L places a bomb, and R activates secondary items such as pills tarot cards, and plying cards. If none of these control options suit you that’s fine. Controls are completely customizable so change and test them to your heart’s content.

Replayability

In terms of replayability, the possibilities are endless. Every time you finish the game, the next run gets just a tad bit longer. From there, the basic length time stretches from about 30 minutes to 45 minutes to possibly even an hour. The game has 16 endings and an epilogue. Trying to get them all will lead to the most frustrating and fun times you’ll have with this game.

Isaac 3

Negatives

Now for all of its positives, there are also some negatives about the game that could heavily influence your decision. For one thing, the local co-op that was present in the console versions of the game is no longer here. This may disappoint many, but I don’t mind it since I don’t really think it was very well implemented to begin with. What also surprised me was that there was no support for stereoscopic 3D in the game which I think is a missed opportunity. Hopefully we can get a future patch to add that.

Verdict:

At the end of the day, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth for the New Nintendo 3DS is the most satisfying Isaac experience to date. If this is your first time playing this award winning indie game or wondering which version to get, there should be no doubt. Portability alone is a good enough reason to buy this game. Heck, I’m still playing the game as we speak. Now all we have to hope for is for the future Afterbirth DLC to come to the system.

Final Rating: Buy

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is now available on the Nintendo E-shop for $15. 

‘Rare Replay’ Requires A 50GB Installation

by The_acz

Rare Replay is only 13 days away from it’s August 4th release and it seems like all Xbox One owners (me included) are eager to get their hands on the game. While everything is all fine and dandy for the people getting the physical version, it seems people wanting to digitally download the game will have to clear up some space. According to the official Xbox store, the initial download for Rare Replay will clock in at around 11.26GB. However, after the initial download, the 360 titles in the collection will be added to your download queue which will require an extra 38GB. These 360 titles include: all 3 Banjo games, Jetpac Re-fueled, both Perfect Dark games, both Viva Piñata games, and Kameo: Elements of Power. While that is a big file size to ask for, don’t let that deter you from picking the game up. It’s still an amazing collection at an amazing value. For more on rare replay, check out the preview coverage of it that I did for Comic-Con.

Gameplay: (Courtesy of IGN)

SDCC 2015: We Go Hands-On With ‘Cuphead’!

by The_acz

Throughout all their successes with first and third party titles for the 360 and One, Microsoft has never been able to fully embrace indie gaming. Sure, they own and heavily support Minecraft, one of gaming’s most popular indie titles of all time, but can that still be classified as an indie game; knowing how big of a development team actually works on it now?

Fear not indie fans, because for the past two years Phil Spencer and company have been trying to make it up to fans with their new indie service simply titled ID @ Xbox. This year at E3, Microsoft showed off many new and interesting ID @ Xbox titles, but one of them stood out more than the others.

Cuphead 4

Enter Cuphead, a quirky platforming shooter game that’s stylized as if it was a cartoon that came straight out of the 1930’s. Developed by just two brothers, Chad and Jared Moldenhauer, Cuphead is the brother’s first venture into the indie games scene with their studio, Studio MDHR. I had the honor of being able to try the game out at the Xbox Lounge at Comic-Con (When the insanely long line allowed it.) It seems like Microsoft has a lot of faith and confidence in Cuphead, but is there more to the game than just its old timey art style? Thankfully, I can say without a doubt, Cuphead not only has a lot more charm than just its art style, but it’s sincerely one of the most fun indie games I’ve ever played.

Story and Gameplay

The story is very simple, but kind of twisted. Two anthropomorphic characters, Cuphead and Mugman, decided to play a game of dice with the Devil. They end up gambling their lives, and in a cruel twist of fate – lose. The Devil agrees to let them live; on one condition. They must do his bidding from now on. So, now it’s up to our ‘heroes’ to destroy whoever the Devil tells them to in order to gain their freedom back.cuphead and mugman

 

From there, you’re given the chance to access a quick tutorial level and then about 3 actual levels. For the sake of keeping the line moving, I decided to play with a second player and only play one level which was the garden. In this level, you must defeat both a giant potato that shoots dirt clods and worms at you and a giant psychic carrot with three eyes that shoots carrot missiles at you. If that sounds crazy to you, that’s because it is. The controls are super simple and very responsive. You have your standard jump and attack buttons, but you also have a dash button and a change weapon button so you can experiment and see what kind of projectile works best on that enemy.

Cuphead 2

It should be said that Cuphead might not be what some people are expecting it to be. For starters, yes it’s a platforming shooter, but there aren’t really any “levels” per say. This game is more akin to what you would find in a boss rush mode of a game. While that may sound intimidating to some newcomers, don’t let that dampen your experience. Even if you aren’t the best at modes like that, the developers have made it very accessible for newcomers. One way they do this is by making the attack patterns of the first couple of bosses you play very repetitive, so that it’s easier to remember their attacks.

Cuphead 3

Closing thoughts

At the end of the day, I can’t say enough good things about how amazing Cuphead is. From an amazing art style to its very easy pick up and play controls, Cuphead is looking to be one of my all-time favorite indie titles right next to Shovel Knight and The Binding of Isaac. Cuphead will be released on Xbox One and PC sometime in 2016.Cuphead 4

SDCC 2015: We Go Hands-On With ‘Rare Replay’!

by The_acz

This year’s San Diego Comic-Con may be over, but that doesn’t mean coverage on it has to stop (seriously, we just saw so much). Last week, I had the chance of visiting the Xbox Gaming Lounge to spend some time with Rare’s new anniversary collection, Rare Replay. For those who don’t know, Rare Replay is a 30th anniversary title that celebrates the company’s 30 years of being in the industry. 30 years, 30 games, 30 dollars, what a deal, huh?

The game collection on this pack is massive, ranging from spectrum games like Jetpac and Sabreman, to some of their newest outings like Viva Piñata and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.

Snake

The collection as a whole includes: Jet Pac , Atic Atac, Lunar Jetman, Sabre Wulf, UnderWurlde, Knight Lore, Gunfright, Slalom, R.C. Pro-Am, Cobra Triangle, Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll, Digger T. Rock, Solar Jetman, Battletoads, , R.C. Pro-Am II, Battletoads Arcade, Killer Instinct Gold, Blast Corp, Banjo Kazooie, Jet Force Gemini, Perfect Dark, Banjo Tooie, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Grabbed By The Ghoulies, Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo: Elements of Power, Viva Piñata, Jetpac Refueled, Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise, and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. It’s really quite the list.

For the sake of the demo, I only tried out Nuts & Bolts and Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll, so other people would have a chance of trying the title out. Both games functioned as they should and were just as fun as when they came out. Although, the controls for Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll felt a little odd due to using a control stick on an isometric view. While Nuts & Bolts was fun for a first time playing it, the game was suffering from framerate issues in some areas, specifically when you’re in the main overworld, Showdown Town. They let me know that they were still working on debugging and fixing most of their 360 titles, so hopefully framerate issues on a far more powerful console won’t make it to the final release.

RareRevealed

Sure, the collection of games is amazing, but knowing Rare, they always love going one step beyond. Not only is the game collection only 1/3rd of the actual game, but there’s also 2 other fully fleshed out features in the title. This includes a snapshot challenge mode where you’re tasked with completing specific challenges from old games in order to earn stamps (infinite Battletoads turbo tunnel anyone). Once you’ve earned enough stamps, you’ll be able to access the last part of the game titled Rare Revealed, where you can access developer diaries and interviews.

All in all, Rare Replay is shaping up to be an amazing game and certainly one that Xbox One and Rare fans don’t want to miss out on. For Rare fans, it’s a must buy, and for non-Rare fans, this is the perfect time to jump in and see what this company is all about. Rare Replay will be released in North America August 4th, Japan August 6th, and the U.K August 7th.