Tag: Xbox 360

E3 2012: Persona 4 Arena is a Kick Ass Good Time

by Josh Jackson

Mash ups in fighting games seem like all the rage right now, but has a famed fighting game developer like Arc System Works, (of Guilty Gear and BlazBlue fame,) come along and created a fighter based entirely around RPG characters? Well it’s happened with Persona 4 Arena, which brings characters from the third and fourth entries to do battle in a completely different type of arena.

As expected from Arc Systems, the game is fast paced with both movement and combo execution. With over a dozen different characters to choose from, an extra layer of strategy is added thanks to the addition of Personas. Two attack buttons control the fighter’s attacks while the last two cause the Persona to appear, creatures that temporarily fight alongside your character to extend attacks. The best part? The demo showed that Personas aren’t tied to particular fighters, so the combinations will feel endless. If there are any BlazBlue fans reading this, they felt a lot like controlling Nirvana with Carl Clover, except the Personas don’t have full movement.

Speaking of BlazBlue, you can tell it was a huge inspiration for Arena’s game play. Different parts of the fights from the special effects when super moves are used, the excamaition points that pop up when thrown or tripped, the completely outlandish fighting styles… all reminiscent of BB and Guilty Gear to a lesser extent. So if you’re fans of those games, is there really any doubt?

When I heard a Persona based fighting game was a thing, I was incredibly excited as both a fighting and RPG fan. After trying it at E3, my excitement has increased tenfold! Promising online, a story mode tying it to its RPG roots and expanding on the overall universe, fans of the cult favorite series are going to want to keep an eye out in August.

E3 2012 – Geekscape Previews “Injustice: Gods Among Us”!

by jake108

I was lucky enough to get seated at a behind-closed-doors preview of DC’s newest fighting game. Fans of DC games may remember their last attempt to make a serious impression on the fighting genre. Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe was, to say the least, not as good as it could have been. But that’s besides the point. Injustice: Gods Among Us will be unique enough to keep on your radar.

NeatherRealm’s newest fighting game will feature a 24-character roster. Officially announced characters include Harley Quinn, Solomon Grundy, Batman, Superman, Flash, and Wonder Woman. The rest of the 20 character slots were silhouetted with question marks.

NeatherRealm was kind enough to show us two matches. The first was between Superman and Flash in the Batcave. NeatherRealm is focused on crafting a unique experience in this specific title. One of their major focuses lies within the map design. Developers are keen on making the world a weapon at your disposal during a match. Examples included Superman grabbing debris from the Batcave, picking grenades up that had fallen out of a Batsuit, and throwing a barrel of oil used to fill the Batmobile; all to inflict damage on Flash.

More examples of using the map as a weapon came in a match between Batman and Solomon Grundy in the stage, “Future City”. Solomon Grundy was able to interact with a parked car by picking it up and smashing Batman with it. This caused the car to become flammable and a potential explosive, thus creating a hazard to both players. During the match, both players must keep fighting while thinking about how they can use that hazard to their advantage.

With each map, NeatherRealm promises to deliver 3 separate environments, each with its own set of object interactions and hazards that can potentially help you win the match. Maps are also destructible, something NeatherRealm wants gamers to notice. Each map and player model will have an intense amount of detail and shades of lighting. The attention to detail was apparent as I was watching Superman and Flash duke it out. During the fight, we were able to see Superman have different facial expressions as he was fighting. Depending on the use of their superpowers, the Batcave would shake and cause damage both in the fighting area and background.

The last thing that gamers should be aware of are the supers. Once a meter is filled, gamers will have the opportunity to perform a super attack. These super attacks have a strong cinematic feel to them. Perhaps the most outstanding super attack came from the Flash. After stunning Superman, Flash took off in one direction as the game cut to a shot of Earth. Flash and his trail could be seen, from space, running AROUND the globe to then deliver a punch to Superman’s face. Each character will have a distinct super, look, and feel.

NeatherRealm is aiming for a cinematic “blockbuster movie” type of fighting experience. I believe they’re right on target.

Injustice: Gods Among Us is set to release next year.

Geekscape Games Reviews Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown

by Josh Jackson

Many fighters have come and gone over the years, but ever since Virtua Fighter hit the ring and revolutionized 3D fighting games, its popularity has endured. Thanks to an incredible level of depth amongst its unique cast, while the game is known to be difficult to master, few games in the genre are as rewarding when all that practice pays off. After five games and multiple revisions, we’ve arrived at Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown, the definitive version of the latest title in this beloved hard hitter. And while it makes some concessions compared to the retail version, this title’s value is hard to argue.

Jean Kujo and Taka-Arashi Join the Fight!

Featuring 19 unique fighters, (two of which are new to the US,) Virtua Fighter has plenty of moves to master between each character. From the easier fighters to master like siblings Jackie or Sara Bryant, to the technical marvels like flagship character Akira, there is sure to be a fighter to fit any gamer’s play style. The game has been reanimated and rebalanced since its last go around, so not only does it look prettier, but the moves look sharper, the damage output has been tweeked and the controls feel a little more forgiving as far as timing. But don’t pick up your pitchforks yet hardcore fans! The game still takes a ton of technical skill to be good at.

Virtua Fighter will help you get better though. And that’s through its many single player modes. Aside from the standard Arcade and Score Attack gauntlets, the Training Mode that VF4 made famous returns, which walks you through each fighter’s move set and slowly builds up your skill. Two modes that are obviously missing though are the single player tournament mode, which has been a staple of the series for years now and the ability to customize fighters. But then again, as a $15 download rather than a full retail release, it’s not surprising that something had to go. So now to build up ranks, instead of winning tournaments, a new License Mode gives players objectives to achieve during a series of fights. Clear these challenges, move up in rank. It’s as easy as that. As far as new costumes, there technically IS a way to dress up your fighters, but you’ll have to shell out extra cash for costume DLC.

Jackie and Sara Bryant Continue Their Rivalry... in HD!!!

Aside from the single player content, the bread and butter of competitive video games is its online component. Especially in a game like Virtua Fighter where timing is key, the slightest bit of lag can completely ruin a fight. Which is why I’m glad to say that my matches were almost completely lag free across ranked and player match. The new room match that adds lobbies to the fights surprisingly didn’t drop in quality either, even with a few different people waiting around. It’s good to see that Sega took this aspect of the game so seriously, especially with how bad lag is on certain big budget, full priced fighters.

So if you couldn’t tell from my glowing review, if you’re a fighting fan, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t own Virtua Fighter 5. The only question is whether or not it’s worth it if you own any of the previous versions. Well, how much value do you place on two new characters? How about the value of the final version of a fighting great that’s been balanced to near perfection? Not to mention that the online community is sure to receive a shot in the arm with this new release. If you absolutely have to be on top of the curve, there’s no question about it, but if you’re a more casual fan who’s perfectly happy with the previous games, there’s no urgent need for it either.

Akira Wants Some Pai...

But for the average gamer who doesn’t have a mock up arcade machine and a room plastered with Akira, Shenmue or Yu Suzuki posters, Final Showdown is still a blast to play. It might take some time to learn and undoubtedly has fewer modes than its predecessors, but the modes it does have will keep you busy for a long time. It moves fast, looks gorgeous and has 19 completely unique people to master. No clones, no similar movesets, nothing of the sort! And at $15 with what feels pretty close to a full retail experience, how can you go wrong? My only issues are the fewer modes and holding out on costumes to turn them into DLC but with the game being so cheap, some extra cash for bonus content is hard to be mad at. I’m incredibly hard pressed to find a reason not to recommend Final Showdown, and is easily one of the premier fighting games in the 3D genre. What else is there left to say? Jump online, download this game and lay a beat down on some mofos!

E3 2012: Embark on a Quest to Become Cool in “South Park and the Stick of Truth”!

by Josh Jackson

During Microsoft’s press conference, the previously announced South Park RPG got a shiny new trailer, compete with new details, features and of course, lots of hilarity.

Embarking on an an epic quest to save South Park, gamers will create their own character who will be the savior of the South Park universe. The short trailer already features plenty of nods to the show, including the Woodland Critters, the fake anime version of Professor Chaos and a gun toting Jesus Christ. Xbox gamers will finally be able to tell off Cartman with Kinect support, so if you want to trash talk your enemies in the foulest of ways possible while beating them down. South Park hasn’t had a very strong reputation when it comes to gaming, but this trailer had me genuinely laughing, and its release on March 5th can’t come soon enough.

But that’s not all, because THQ is planning additional content for the title, including the Mysterion Pack which will be a timed exclusive for the Xbox 360. Check out the press release detailing the content:

 

THQ is happy to offer exclusive weapons and costumes when you preorder South Park: The Stick of Truth. The Good Times With Weapons Pack, based on one of the most popular South Park episodes of all time, includes destructive items no fourth-grade martial artist should be without. With the Bulrog Chicken Attack, summon the devastating ninja powers of Bulrog and turn your feeble enemies into chickens! BLAM! “Nya-nya-nya-nya-na naa!  Now you are a chicken!”
With Cartman’s Kick-Ass Sai, the ultimate weapon of destruction, penetrate even the most evil of villains!  Harness the fiery sting of the Sai to slash and cut your way through South Park!
Rounding out the Good Times With Weapons Pack is the Samurai Costume. Show off your brute muscle with this bad-ass getup, complete with samurai headgear, a super-sweet cape, and the toughest cardboard armor this side of Takagawa.  Suit up, and prepare to unleash the ultimate pwnage!
THQ and Microsoft are proud to announce Xbox 360 exclusive pre-order items for South Park: The Stick of Truth: The Mysterion Superhero Pack. With your Superhero Costume, suit-up as the next South Park superhero!  It’s the perfect disguise for fighting your mortal enemies and keeping South Park safe!
Also, harness the elusive power of Mysterion with the Mysterion Special Attack!  South Park’s protector unleashes a deadly combination of stealth and firepower — your enemies won’t know what hit them!
Finally, slash the darkness with the diabolical switchblade, the Dagger of Cthulhu!  It’s the same weapon used to stab and kill Mysterion in the twisted classic episode “Mysterion Rises.”  And now… the fate of the Cult of Cthulhu lies in your hands!
  • South Park DLC on Xbox 360 First
The first three downloadable episode packs for South Park: The Stick of Truth will be available first on Xbox 360. These episodes are standalone adventures featuring their own stories, taking you to places in South Park you’ve never been before.
  • South Park: Better With KinectTM for Xbox 360
Taunt your enemies, and launch attacks with your voice. Finally, for the first time in South Park history, you can call Cartman a “fat ass,” and he’ll respond.

Check out the trailer below. Does it look as good as I’m saying it does? Don’t be a Jew, let us know in the comments!

Geekscape Games Reviews Batman Arkham City: Harley Quinn’s Revenge

by jake108

The adventures in Arkham City continue with Harley Quinn’s Revenge. If you haven’t played through Arkham City’s story already, be warned: Spoilers follow!

Harley Quinn’s Revenge starts not long after the events in the game’s standard story mode. With Joker dead, Harley Quinn has obviously lost and and vows to extract revenge on Batman. Surprising, right? The game starts with Robin as the protagonist. You play as Robin for roughly half of the DLC’s campaign, which, depending on your skill level, can last up to two hours. It is also important to note that the entire DLC story takes place in and around the Steel Mill.

Harley Quinn’s Revenge a simple story compared to the standard on-disc campaign. A group of GCPD cops have been kidnapped by Harley Quinn’s thugs, and have retreated into Joker’s old lair in Arkham City. Without spoiling the DLC’s story, I can say you’ll have few things to do other than the main mission objectives.

There are Harley Quinn balloons scattered around the mission area, but it’s hardly enough to get a gamer to replay the DLC for a reason other than simply wanting to experience it again.

Sadly, Harley Quinn’s Revenge just isn’t up to par with Rocksteady’s previous installments into their Batman franchise. It doesn’t really advance the overall story and is instead an event that can be played if you choose to do so. As someone who adores the past two Batman video game titles, I have to say it would be best if you waited until Harley Quinn’s Revenge went on sale.

Harley Quinn’s Revenge is available now for $10 on both Xbox Live and PSN.

Possible Gears of War Prequel in Development

by jake108

Gameinformer recently released their newest magazine cover set to release this month.

From what I can gather from cover picture, I am certain that is Marcus Fenix in handcuffs. Any Gears of War fan knows at least some the backstory regarding Marcus Fenix’s life up to the start of the first Gears of War.

If you look in the background, you’ll also see two Locusts riding Reavers. Having the Locust back as an enemy may not surprise many, but hopefully we’ll get to see some of the much talked about Pendulum Wars leading up to Emergence Day.

Also, if it is indeed an prequel, I assume we can expect all of our favorite voice actors to return to Sera.

Nevertheless, we’ll be finding out much more about this title in just a few days.

Geekscape Games Reviews Mad Riders

by Josh Jackson

There are racing games, and then there are EXTREME racing games! Or at least there were, but they have really gone out of style in recent years. Even kings of extreme like SSX have become more tame in more recent titles. But does that stop Mad Riders? No! This digitally released ATV racer has style to spare, with gorgeous visuals to boot. But is that enough to deserve a go around, or does this title stall at the gate?

Mad Riders features 40 plus tracks over about a half a dozen locales, all of which look fantastic in motion, (though I can’t say the same for the character models. The audience has a severe lack of faces.) By performing well in races, players will level up, unlocking new tricks, vehicles and outfits along the way. Like great arcade racers of the past, collecting special icons, racers can manually trigger boost charge stations, shortcuts and ramps… but not until you unlock the ability to do so. It feels really limiting in the beginning, since you literally can’t do anything but drive forward or boost when the game starts up, but as the game expands, that’s where it reaches its full potential.

Performing tricks throughout the races nets extra experience points while earning more boost power for extra speed. Plus, it gives you great practice for when other modes come into play. Some of the usual features include checkpoint races where racers have to hit certain spots to advance and trick contests where the racer with the most successful tricks throughout a lap wins. But Mad Riders has some lesser used ideas that make it speed ahead of the competition. Race modes like Perfectionist, where racers repeatedly complete the same lap for a set amount of time to earn the fastest single lap, are great to play. Especially with friends both locally and online.

For all of its modes, Mad Riders is pretty straightforward, which is probably its biggest flaw aside for the slow progression. Even with the large amount of tracks, many of them feel the same. The AI isn’t too difficult, so it won’t take too long to place 1st in every track the game has to offer. Not to mention that there’s nothing more puzzling than being warped to the back of a ramp because your back tires scraped the side of a rail, barrier or edge. Hey game, just because I was close to falling doesn’t mean I actually fell!

Complaints aside, Mad Riders was a pleasant surprise that took me back to a simpler times in gaming. Feeling like the closest thing we’ll ever get to a new Jet Moto, while this racer doesn’t do much to reinvent the wheel, (aside from a few great game modes,) it’s racing, online capabilities and trick systems are simple, yet effective. Plus, for only $10, you can’t go wrong with so many tracks and vehicle types, even if many of them feel similar. So if you’re an arcade racing fan, want a gorgeous HD racer or miss simple, classic style titles, should you download this title? Frankly, you’d be mad not to.

Ubisoft’s Mad Riders Reveals Groundbreaking Trailer of a Trailer…

by Josh Jackson

Ubisoft’s new ATV racer, Mad Riders, is scheduled to debut on Xbox Live Arcade and PSN this week, and what better way to build up the excitement by releasing a new trailer?

Except this isn’t just any trailer. Mad Riders has the balls to show off the trailer of the trailer! While the game has a solid release date, we have yet to receive comment on when the highly anticipated trailer will debut. But until then, the video below will have to suffice. And that won’t be hard to do with all of the insane tricks and intense racing that the video shows off. Plus, it’s clear that the developers don’t take things too seriously, which is always a plus with me.

Look for a full review of Mad Riders soon!

Geekscape Games Reviews Joy Ride Turbo

by jake108

We got our first glimpse of Joy Ride Xbox Live Arcade title a little over two years ago. At the time, it was a free-to-play title incorporating the use of our Avatars in an arcade-based racing world. Soon after, Microsoft revamped the title for Kinect use. Now, a year later, a controller-based port has arrived to the Xbox Live Arcade with an 800 Microsoft Point price tag. Is this joy ride worth the price?

Graphically, Joy Ride Turbo is a treat. Playing through each track was entertaining thanks to a few key components. Each race track comes with a variety of shortcuts leading to new portions of the track altogether. Gamers will also be treated to hidden collectables around the track, usually found in the shortcuts themselves. When racing on a map for the first time, it’s easy to overlook your competitors and instead focus on the track’s surroundings while performing back flips and barrel rolls with your vehicle.

Joy Ride Turbo comes with both single-player and multiplayer modes. While the modes aren’t plentiful, they are what is expected from an arcade racing title. Off the Main Menu, you’ll find:

Championship Series – Players choose from 100 HP to 300HP in an assortment of tracks that are mostly class-restricted.

Stunt Park – Players choose from 100 HP to 300 HP in an attempt to find every hidden car part and trophy, while collecting coins.

Aside from those, you also have the standard Quick Race option. On Xbox LIVE, you’ll find the options to race and visit stunt parks. My major gripe about this arcade title is the way matchmaking is set up. Unfortunately, when you enter a lobby, you are not able to invite any friends. Instead, you are forced to create a private match. This may prove to be a bit of a hassle, especially if you just want to invite one friend.

Joy Ride Turbo’s gameplay is solid. Players can drift, perform mid-air tricks, all of which goes towards your ability to boost. Just as in Mario Kart, players will also have the opportunity to  gain weapons and power-ups to use on the race track. With friends, these modes can be quite fun. Joy Ride Turbo supports up to 4-player split-screen, and up to 8 racers on Xbox Live.

Car customization only goes as far as changing the color. However, seeing your avatar racing is pretty great. If you’re into kart racing titles, definitely check out Joy Ride Turbo.

Joy Ride Turbo is available now for the Xbox Live Arcade!

Geekscape Games Reviews “Game of Thrones”

by MoreLikeAndy

As with most people, I have only experienced Game of Thrones through the HBO series and not the books. The political turmoil, crazy plot twists and yes, boobs, makes the show entertaining to watch. And of course, with every great series, we sooner or later get a video game (remember the Lost game?). The first try for Cyanide (Montreal) was with Game of Thrones: Genesis, a turn-based strategy game that was ill received. This time around, Cyanide (Paris) takes a stab at Game of Thrones with an Action RPG.

Instead of following the original story, Cyanide crafted a new one, a tale that takes place before and during the first season of the HBO series. The story revolves around 2 different characters. One is Mors Westford, a Night Watch ranger that has to go on a mission to find a woman that Jon Arryn, the hand of the king, wants protected. The other is Alester Sarwyck, a red priest who comes home after many years to pay his respects to his dead father as well as to rightfully claim the throne of his home, Riverspring.

With the help of George R.R. Martin, Cyanide has created a fantastic story that is a joy to experience. Just be prepared to sit through a lot of text and dialogue. Game of Thrones has so much exposition in the beginning that it almost wore me down. So much information passed before me through my 25 hour play-through that I was wishing that I had the Cliff Notes in front of me by the end (because without complication, it’s not Game of Thrones!)

Speaking of the end, Game of Thrones just doesn’t seem to want to end when you want it to. Multiple times I thought I was at the end of the game when it just kicks into another chapter. It’s kind of frustrating when you are up at 4am thinking that you are at the end and you end up with 3 more chapters to go. Choices that you make in the game are supposed to change the outcome as you progress yet I felt that the changes were minor and never had the impact Cyanide intended them to have. The only choices that seemed to matter where the ones near the end which decided which of the 4 endings I received.

Thankfully, the story is worth it due to some good voice actors. Only two, unfortunately, are the actual actors from the HBO series. James Cosmo (Lord Commander Jeor Mormont) and Conleth Hill (Lord Varys the Spider) had me seeing them as they are in the HBO series while talking to me in the game. Of course it helps that the characters were also modeled after their HBO counterparts. I had a hard time with Alester’s voice acting. There are times when he nailed it. Too bad there are many other times where the delivery of the lines were awful. Mors, on the other hand, was amazing throughout the game. With the low, gravelly voice, you knew that he was a man best left alone.

Combat ended up being quite boring at first. Having to queue up 3 actions at any given time was unsatisfying. It only got a little better when you had more than 1 person to control to switch between and manage their attacks. I appreciated how the action slows down when you bring up the radial skills wheel. I had a few close calls with drinking a potion to stave off death. Just like the story, the good combat takes some time to get to. Once you learn that enemies with different armor types are susceptible to certain weapon proficiencies, you try to set the weapons in your 2 separate load-outs to accommodate that. You can get by with just using weapons with the proficiencies of cutting and perforating. I rarely ran across enemies that blunt weapons had a bonus effect on.

The absolute, best thing about the combat is using Mors’ skinchanger ability. With this ability, you can control your mangy mutt of a bulldog. Doing so lets you run around in first-person view as the dog! I became more wrapped up in the sneaking around, stealthily killing soldiers by ripping their throats out. It reminded me that someone needs to make a Milo & Otis game. You can sniff around for hidden treasure too but thinning out the ranks by leaping at enemies throats is really, really fun.

I see where Cyanide was going with the customization for each of your characters. Having the option to pick between 3 different battle stances for Mors or Alester will have an effect on what skills you can learn and what weapons you will be more proficient using. Late in the game you can add a second stance to add more abilities to your arsenal. None of this seems to really make an impact since most will settle on the 2 or 3 skills that are the most useful and spam them over and over ad nauseum. One thing I did find surprising is being able to pick your strengths and weaknesses. For instance, I can pick leadership as a strength and to balance that out, I would have to pick something to offset that like a weakness to fire. I would like to see this implemented in more RPG’s. More customization is not a bad thing, as long as it’s done right.

With such a vast world to use, it’s a shame to not have anything really to do in it. There are side quests to be found albeit very few of them. I wanted more to do than just the main quest and lazily exploring the world and found myself disappointed when there wasn’t a reason to do anything but the main story quests.

Still, the Music in Game of Thrones is pure bliss and worth wandering around listening to. Again, having HBO on their side helps out with some licensing and Cyanide was able to use the theme song from the TV series. I spent the whole week humming the very infectious theme. The visuals of the world and characters could have been cleaned up a bit as they are not pretty to see at times and some clipping issues are bothersome but none of it should take you out of the game as you play.

With George R.R. Martin helping craft the story, fans of the books and TV series will find enjoyment in the intertwining stories between Mors and Alester. People that love a good story in their RPG but don’t follow the book or HBO series will still find Game of Thrones interesting enough to sit through the dull moments in combat as well as the world feeling a little empty. Everyone else coming to this game on the assumptions that it will be “Game of Boobs” will be sorely unsatisfied. After 25 hours with the game, my quest to find some boobs was still unfinished.

Geekscape Games Reviews Dragon’s Lair (Xbox 360)

by Josh Jackson

Long before God of War invented quick time events, games like Dragon’s Lair put them on the map. Imagine a time back in the 80’s, when there were these crazy things called arcades. These wonderous machines would feature games that were way more detailed than what consoles could offer at home and were the place to be when gamers wanted to experience the newest tech. Even amongst such classics, Dragon’s Lair was unique due to it playing out like an interactive Saturday morning cartoon. If you need any proof of how popular it was, just take a look at how many times its been re-released! It’s on DVD, Blu Ray, mobile devices and home consoles… but never before have YOU been able to become Dirk the Daring. That is, until Dragon’s Lair met Kinect.

This port of Dirk’s most famous adventure plays almost exactly like it did in the 80’s. An animated film taking players through the obsticals standing in the way of rescuing the princess runs on screen while lightning quick prompts show players which directions and buttons to press. Yes… if you’ve played this before, the game is almost competely unchanged. Unlike the quarter eating days of the past when the slightest mistake meant walking away in shame or sinking in another 50 cents, new features include difficulty levels that allow multiple mistakes per life, clearer on screen prompts that act more like modern day QTE games, leaderboards, achievements and avatar items. Even if you want to just sit back and enjoy the animation, (with the skill and charm of Don Bluth, animator of numerous films such as An American Tale, All Dogs Go to Heaven and Disney’s Robin Hood,) you can just head into the options and just watch the game play itself!

But these features aren’t the selling points of this version… this download is all about the Kinect compatibility. This optional way to control the game makes it feel like much more of an interactive experience rather than just tapping a button when prompted. Jumping forward, backward, left or right controls directions, a swipe of the arm swings Dirk’s sword and reaching up grabs ropes. After ten minutes, you start getting an idea of what it would really be like to fight through the lair, since buyers will get a nice workout from all the jumping around. The Kinect mode even allows a second player to get in on the fun with co-op, but considering it’s not a true team experience and just has players swapping places from scene to scene, you’re better off just sticking with single player to avoid the load times. Overall, I was impressed with how much Kinect added to the classic Dragon’s Lair experience… that is, when it works.

One of the many, many death scenes. Poor Dirk...

Playing hands free will make you glad that the default setting allows multiple mistakes per life. As with most Kinect games, the camera has some issues with registering your movements at the most random times, so there were plenty of times where the exact same movement that worked minutes ago wouldn’t work later. Aside from these control issues, this download is more about nostalgia than anything, because with unlimited continues that won’t drain your laundry money, Dragon’s Lair is only about 15-20 minutes long. Even if you collect all of the achievements and play a perfect run, the game wouldn’t take more than a few hours to memorize for most. However, the most off-putting part is the price. $10, (or 800 Microsoft happy points in gamernese,) is far too much for what you get, especially when Dragon’s Lair Trilogy on Wii has three games for only five dollars more. Sure, you won’t get Kinect support that way, so gamers with the camera and an itch for nostalgia are going to have to consider if hands free controls alone are worth it. As far as the game itself, like most kids, I got my ass HANDED to me at the arcades and would have had to spend a small fortune to make it to the end. So I never knew that about half way through, many of the rooms repeat in reverse. If anyone out there knew this from the arcades, kudos, (and let me borrow a couple thousand dollars. I’m good for it, I swear!)

The Lizard King is mezmorized by the buns of steel.

Almost 30 years later, Dragon’s Lair is still as humorous, charming and challenging as it used to be. It’s play style has stood the test of time through games like Shenmue, God of War and most notably, Heavy Rain, and deserves its legendary status in gaming history. With that said, games are much different today than in the age of arcades, so as a stand alone game, its a tough sell for today’s generation with the length and repetition considered. Even with Kinect support that freshens up the experience, its unreliability and novelty will wear off after no time at all. Unless you really want the Kinect experience or are a Dragon’s Lair fanatic, there are cheaper alternatives if you want to experience Dirk’s classic adventure.

Geekscape Games Reviews Max Payne 3

by MoreLikeAndy

With its dark and ever depressing undertones, the Max Payne series has always been able to deliver an amazing story set to some pretty outrageous John Woo style gunplay using the slow down effects of bullet time. Now, after 9 years since his last outing, we check in on Max in Max Payne 3 to see how life has been for the former NYPD cop. And from the look of things, it’s business as usual.

Still living in his past, Max Payne routinely drowns his sorrows in booze and pills. It’s amazing to me that Max still has a liver with all the drinking he does. The story for Max Payne 3 starts with an old police academy buddy, Raul Passos, finding Max in a dive bar doing what he does best. Raul’s offer, an easy job protecting rich people, at first sounds uninteresting to Max. But after certain events happen in the bar, Max is more than eager to get the hell out of New Jersey and off to Sao Paulo, Brazil. I’m not sure I would want an alcoholic, pill popping ex-cop to guard me but when things start to go wrong in this seemingly easy bodyguard detail, Max finds a way to shake the drug induced haze long enough to start trying to figure out just what the hell is going on.

Anyone would be hard pressed to not say that Max Payne 3’s story and presentation doesn’t resemble Tony Scott’s Man on Fire. I couldn’t help but also see Max Payne as Arnold Schwarzenegger in End of Days. The similarities are that both characters begin the story as drunks with a past that they can’t seem to let go of. The choice of the blurring effects mixed with the split screen scenes presents a believable state of mind that Max is in throughout the game. These provided some exciting and seamless transitions from the past to the present of the story, so when I say that we’re catching up with Max after 9 years, I mean it. The story in Max Payne 3 covers a lot of ground.

Even the way that the cut scenes flow right back into gameplay seem like magic to me. The characterization and writing is so good that, throughout my journey, I felt like I should have broken out the bottle of rum and had a drink with Max. Making me feel that sorry for a character in a game is an amazing feat, one that Rockstar knows how to do very well as of late (Red Dead Redemption anyone?). Still, the writing does have its brief moments of slipping into terrible and the pacing is erratic during the final acts. Though the ending may not satisfy me as much as Red Dead Redemption’s ending did, Rockstar still manages to pull a smile out of me before the closing credits rolled.

Of course, what really makes a Max Payne game is the combat. Endless streams of bullets while diving in slo-mo is a trademark thing for this series. With Max a little more broken down by age and a “healthy” diet of alcohol and pill cocktails, he has lost a step or two. Controls seem to be sluggish overall when moving Max around. I honestly don’t see how Max doesn’t break a hip diving in to the air and landing on the ground. Bullet-time is still here as well as shoot-dodging. Shoot-dodging is a gamble this time around due to how slow Max gets up afterwards. Diving into a group of gun-toting mercenaries only to land in the middle of them as they laugh at you is downright embarrassing.

Even with bullet-time and John Woo action diving, the combat didn’t feel like a Max Payne game. Essentially, bad memories of the terrible combat from Uncharted 3 rushed over me when I was in my first gun fight. Instead of the run-and-gun, bullet hell ballet that is a trademark for Max Payne, you are forced to play the game as a cover shooter. Between the enemies being sponges for damage, deadly accurate in aiming and the fragile nature of Max Payne’s  body, doing anything but hiding behind cover will put you on the fast track to the death animation of Max getting a baseball sized hole in his face. Some of the enemies were wearing flak jackets so I can understand that shooting them in the head is your best option. What I can’t understand is how a ratty button up shirt can take half a clip of an Uzi before the person wearing it dies. I was very tempted to lower the difficulty to easy just to see the story to its end. Even with the options for soft lock or hard lock aim assist, I couldn’t be more disappointed with the combat.

Not surprising, there is multiplayer in this installment of the Max Payne series.  With Rockstar really pushing the aspect of creating or joining crews in Max Payne 3 (will carry over to GTA V as well), it is a crying shame that they lock the Gang War mode behind what seems to me like arbitrary goals. I am not sure I want to complete 7 different goals to unlock new play modes. Infinity Ward and Treyarch did this with their latest Call of Duty games but things were locked behind what level you were, while leveling up was not very hard.

If Rockstar wanted to use these goals to get players acclimated to the controls and combat for multiplayer, they should have taken the route that Epic Games did with Gears of War 3. People can play in the casual playlist until they either feel comfortable enough to venture out to the regular playlists or reach a certain level, thus having the casual playlist locked out to them. What is baffling to me as well is that there are only 2 different modes besides Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch. I would have liked to see the sniper level in the beginning of the story to be a mode for multiplayer. Have 2 players on a team , one covering the other with a sniper rifle while the other team of 4 or 6 tries to keep the player not using the sniper rifle from reaching some goal.

While the story of Max Payne is engrossing, it is not enough to wash out the horrid combat and some poor choices made in the design of multiplayer. Sort of like drinking a whole bottle of whiskey to chase the Oxycodone down with. It’s all fun and games until you vomit a liver and Max Payne 3 sounds like a good time but it leaves a hell of a painful hangover.

Ubisoft Announces Avengers Game

by Shane O'Hare

Today Ubisoft announced that they have made a deal with Marvel to create an Avengers game titled “Battle for Earth”. Insert Will Smith-Independence day quote here.

At first I was elated, thinking it was that unfinished FPS we all saw last year finally coming to fruition, but no information other than it’ll be out this fall and will be on the Kinect and Wii U systems was given.

Let’s hope that it’s not just another video game movie churned out due to a films popularity and it actually has some playability  like the last few avengers games.

We will be sure to let you know more info as it comes out, but in the mean time take a gander at the leaked footage from the Avengers FPS and wish that this game and that game are the same.

Geekscape Games Reviews “Minecraft: XBOX360 Edition”!

by Shane O'Hare

I’ll admit. When I first heard the announcement that Minecraft was moving to the Xbox 360 I wasn’t that impressed. I figured it would be very limited. After playing with it for a week, my impressions have changed.

Every gamer nowadays knows what Minecraft is all about, but if you aren’t in the know I’ll give you a quick overview. Minecraft is a survival game in a world that is made of bricks. You can cut trees to get wood, make tools and mine minerals to make better tools and the circle continues. It doesn’t SOUND that compelling, but its addictiveness is on the same level as crack. The ability to make tools and housing items is very intuitive and the creative level has no limit. I’ve had extensive time playing and managing my own PC server of this game, so my curiosity to see how well this version stacks up was very…curious.

The Xbox version is not any different. The biggest change is instead of having to guess at the crafting recipe of whatever you want to create, you can pick from a list of items and if you have the materials then it will allow you to make the item. This made the exploration of new tools and furniture very intuitive. Best example is while scrolling through the different lighting methods, me and my buddy learned we could make torches with CHARCOAL (which can be made by burning wood) as well as COAL (which is found in ore form inside mines). That changes the start of the survival aspect of the game drastically, even though we learned this fact three nights too late.

The best selling point for me in this version was the ability to have splitscreen multiplayer, when I read about this I had flashbacks to Goldeneye matches from my youth. So I grabbed my Xbox and headed over to my buddy Dylan’s house to start the adventure.

We started our first world and the first appeal was to see what our character models were. (WARNING: My screen capture device was not working, so the only few screen shots I got came from my cellphone, please bear with me)

I was the default skin, Minecraft Steve, but Dylan (Station1337) appeared to be some fancy tennis instructor. We dubbed him “Tanner”.

Being the Minecraft veterans we are, we knew that the first thing to do was find some Coal and create torches to keep the monsters at bay during the first night. That didn’t go so well. We dug out two fairly large hills looking for Coal…we found absolutely none. The first night was spent dug into 1X2 sized holes in pure darkness, with the sounds of monsters just outside. We weren’t even in the same hole! It was a lonely hole the first night.  As soon as the sun rose, we went  on the Coal hunt again…with zero yield. Again, we slept in our shallow graves while Zombies and Skeleton Archers clawed at the dirt trying to kill us.  As the sun came up, which would ultimately burn our enemies into dust and give us a relatively safe gathering area, it began to rain. Blotting out the sun. The absurdity of how dire and depressing our situation was palpable.

We proceeded to delete this world and create another one. That one didn’t turn out so well, the resources weren’t very abundant either. So third times a charm, and this created world ended up being the one we played for over 12 hours.

Upon spawn, in a giant rain forest, we found some pumpkins and a decent mountain on the water for us to carve out and begin our underground journey.

Now we really started to get into the meat of the game. Creating a wheat farm underground for baking bread. Creating a bedroom so we could move our respawn location.  Creating the first of many strip mines in order to get some raw materials so we could create weapons and gear in order to survive the ultimate test, venturing into the Nether Realm.

We soon realized the game was way too dark right off the bat. Upping the gamma and the brightness on the TV did the trick. We also felt that the torches in this version had a slightly less powerful radius. We believe that this weaker light radius allowed some monsters to spawn on the outside walls of our bedroom which let them spawn MORE monsters near them which ended up in our bedroom, whom quickly attacked us. It took a few tries to get a full sleep cycle in (which would move our respawn location indoors), this may or may not be just a glitch for our world. I was unable to recreate this situation so I do not feel the monsters-through-the-wall-spawn to be something the every player should expect.

Once that issue was sorted, Steve and Tanner were able to have some alone time…

About four hours later we had a sizable mine dug out and we started stock piling materials to gear up for our trip into hell. Our next session playing we brought two more players with us, our friends Josh and Dan, with us. Josh being another veteran Minecraft player and Dan who was fairly n00b at it. Their character models were just as interesting as the tennis instructor. Josh was a man in a tux with a nice flower on his lapel and Dan was a black man in a wife beater with a large gold chain with a blingy medallion on it. Our new group of miners started on the goal of adventuring into the Nether Realm to get a few rare and valuable minerals. It was nice to see how quickly Dan picked up the Xbox 360 version. The included crafting guide made his first few hours in the game to be smooth. With little instruction he crafted a few tools and wandered into a natural cave and preceded to get murdered by a Skeleton.

The four of us started prepping for the hell trip. Dylan created the most efficient strip mine possible, alternating 1X2 tunnels which yielded copious amounts of diamond and iron ore. Josh created a large tree and wheat farm so that we could harvest raw wood and bake bread to heal our characters. Me and Dan started exploring the natural cave we stumbled upon in search of interesting times.

I feel that this was the best feature of this version. Being able to sit on a couch with your friends, share a few drinks and share mine ideas was ideal. It removed the slight level of loneliness we all felt while playing the PC version. Yeah, we always played on Skype together but being in the same room brought back memories of Halo 2 LAN parties from high school. The robust features from the PC version were still around. We all had our own missions but were able to work as a team together. Josh was farming wood so that Dylan could build check point throughout our mine. Hours flew buy while we gathered minerals to arm our characters for the adventure into the inferno, armor and weapons to take on the monsters while we gathered the valuable materials.

During this prep time I took the opportunity to get in a boat and sail about exploring the various islands. This is when I ran into the biggest disappointment of the game. The size of the playable area is very limited in comparison to the PC version. The starting map you get, that is as big as it gets. I literally hit an invisible wall. This small play area made us realize there are only so many mineral blocks available. On the PC version when your mine was almost completely dry, you could pack up some gear and walk a few miles and start a new camp gathering minerals. The upside to this limited area was the high amount of natural cave formations. These are usually filled with monsters and veins of the high value minerals. Me and Dan explored a few and filled up our inventory with Iron Ore to arm ourselves.

Hours continued to tick by, which seemed like minutes. The pizza I had heated up with the intention to eat HOT was ice cold by the time I got to it. The addictive nature of the game wasn’t impeded by the limited size. When 2 A.M rolled around we knew it was time to armor up. We forged iron weapons and armor and started the Nether Portal which would bring us to Hell.

We stood around the portal, and jumped in one at a time. As soon as the group was on the other side we made a makeshift base. Carving out a hole and putting up some doors. The doors would keep the Zombie Pig Men but not the giant fireball spitting Ghasts. A good 45 minutes was spent venturing in the hellish Nether Realm. Killing pig men, hiding from Ghasts and getting lightstones to create powerful lighting back at the main mine. Afterwards we jumped back and decided it was time to be moderately responsible adults  and stop playing Minecraft at 3 A.M.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Nursing our sore tired eyes over a quick smoke we four discussed our experience. We all agreed that the controls for the console were very well done. Everything was labeled properly and the “Quick Move” option in menus made moving large amounts of items around very easy. The lack of cheats, which forced us all to actually play the role properly, made all of our achievements much more rewarding. There was a slight chugging felt when all four players were moving at once, but it did not affect game play that much. Everyone in the group enjoyed the splitscreen mode. Being able to sit around the TV and hangout in person made the mining and crafting fun. It was like playing LEGOS after school with your best friend, but with booze! Dylan felt the size restriction was a big mark AGAINST the Xbox 360 version, he wasn’t able to make a judgement call on how it would affect the end game. Even with a large LCD TV with and HDMI cable, we had to move the couches closer to the screen. The small “pixel text”  was soon illegible  on our individual quarter screens. I didn’t feel the eyestrain on the single player mode. When asked if he would buy it, Dylan said ” I thought I kicked this Minecraft addiction, but it looks like I will be buying the Xbox version”.

We all had reservations, most of them were dissolved quickly in and we were quickly absorbed in the tunnels we were digging. If they are able to keep updates consistent. Possibly offer mod support or content expansion packs, then I feel this version will offer the same Minecraft experience but tuned perfectly on the Xbox 360. If you haven’t already bought Minecraft and the idea of computer gaming and modding scares you do not even hesitate. Buy this version, just don’t let any pigs in.

Microsoft Rumored to Sell $99 Xbox 360 + Kinect Bundle With Monthly Fees

by jake108

You read right. While the initial $99 price tag for a 4GB Xbox 360 and Kinect Sensor may look tempting, the fees you’ll be paying afterwards may detour you away.

While it’s not too bad of a deal, it may seem awfully complicated from just purchasing the console outright. The complication starts at the $15 monthly fee that covers an Xbox Live Gold Subscription, 2 year warranty, and possibly a subscription to one of Xbox Live’s streaming services. Customers will be given a choice of which contract they wish to pursue, both of which last two years. Still, customers should be weary of early termination fees.

Here’s the breakdown:

Option #1

  • 4GB Xbox 360 + Kinect: $299
  • 2 years of Xbox Live Gold: $120
  • Extended warranty (Xbox 360): $25
  • Extended warranty (Kinect): $25
  • Total: $470

Option #2

  • 4GB Xbox 360 + Kinect: $99
  • Two years of $15 monthly fees: $360
  • Total: $459

There are many gamers who don’t spend $60 a year on a Xbox Live Gold subscription. We can view this bundle as just another way of purchasing an Xbox 360 console, but I think we can all agree on hoping this doesn’t become the norm for next-gen consoles.

This bundle is rumored to be available to purchase as soon as next week.

Geekscape Games Reviews Fable Heroes

by Josh Jackson

Since its debut on the original Xbox, the Fable series has been a staple in Microsoft’s first party lineup. And why wouldn’t it be? It’s taken gamers through a second life where they could be a badass warrior, hold down a part time job, have seven wives and buy house after house without ever having to get off of the sofa. But since Fable III, the the tales of Albion have taken somewhat of a back seat, but as you and I know, when there’s a gap in sequels, make a spinoff!

This is where Fable Heroes comes in. Switching gears from the typical Action/RPG style, Heroes is a lighthearted hack n slash that takes players across many familiar locations from the franchise’s history, except presented through a puppet stage play that looks like it could have been ripped straight from an episode of Mr. Rogers. Choosing between puppet versions of the four heroes of Fable II at the start, (brutish Hammer, magic user Garth, expert marksman and all around douche Reaver, and the Hero respectively,) each character provides different playstyles that only become more varied as you unlock more puppets to use.


Once you’re actually in the game, you won’t find anything mindblowing with the game play, but it accomplishes its purpose well enough. Choosing between weaker quick attacks, more powerful flourish moves and an area clearing attack at the cost of some health, beating mini versions of iconic series foes like Hobbes, Hollow Men and Balverines without taking damage builds up a multiplier to increase the amount of gold your earn with each kill. You’ll want to make the most of these cash increases, because not only can you spend gold on upgrades and earn dice rolls for the upgrade board, (more on that in a bit.) There are always four players on the screen at once, so if you’re not cool enough to have any friends, the AI will be your new wingman. And just like a brain dead friend, they tend to stand next to hazards, refuse to move forward at points, and are just all around bad most of the time. My recommendation? Force them to be a ranged character, because the game clearly favors the melee fighters who rack up multiple kills at a time while poor little shooters fire one shot at a time at a horribly slow pace. Even when they do kill something, they’re so far away from the dropped cash that the close ranged characters will snatch it up anyway. This is serious business because the game is always comparing your results with the rest of your team, and trust me, you probably won’t want to be the one laughed at in last place.

Fable has been about choices from the start, and while you won’t be making any life altering decisions in Heroes, being able to take control of your destiny does come into play. Near the end of each stage, the team gets to choose between branching paths that will take them to drastically different areas, usually coming across seperate sets of enemies and end stage challenges. At the end, you’ll either come across a towering boss where the team will work together to slay, or competitive mini games where outlasting your friends is the key to victory. Aside from the paths, while treasure chests full of power ups are scattered throughout the game, special good and evil chests eventually appear. Good chests usually benefit the team in some way, by giving a random member a boost in strength or making it rain money. Evil chests do the opposite and have a chance of sabotaging one of your team mates… assuming it doesn’t backfire and target you instead.

So after you’ve beaten your friends down through skill or through treachery, what do you do with all of your winnings? After each stage, the heroes are transported to a board game, where a roll of the die determines what you can upgrade. The amount of gold or powerups collected determines how many rolls you get, but since it’s all determined by chance, it’s not uncommon to land on squares that you can’t access yet. Imagine being the only one in the group who didn’t upgrade because of crappy rolls? Yeah, it’s a crappy feeling? I appreciate trying something new, rather than the typical “press start to upgrade” routine, but when powering up, unlocking new skills and playable characters relies on chance? Yeah, I’m not having that. On the plus side, all characters keep their upgrades, even if you’re not controlling them, so computer characters keep their gold and can be upgraded for when you decide Reaver is boring and you’d rather be Garth. Wait, what am I saying? Reaver never gets boring.

But even with branching paths, it doesn’t help the biggest problem with Fable Heroes, which is the severe lack of content. The main game is over in about two to three hour, which isn’t helped by the game’s way too forgiving take on dying. KO’ed players can still fight as an invulnerable ghosts and the stage keeps going as long as there’s one player still alive, AI or otherwise. The only drawback, (if you can really call it one,) is that ghosts can’t collect money. But when you’ve already collected thousands in gold that you don’t lose when you die, why do you really care? Reviving is as easy as picking up a health item on the map, but you’re better off dead if you ask me.

Playing through the game again in the harder dark world or unlocking the remaining paths only adds a small amount of incentive to go through it again, but thanks to the shallow, repetitive game play, it might seem more like a chore after awhile. While it might be strange to say, the mini games were the most entertaining sections, giving a much more entertaining break from the action. Especially comparing to what… the boss fights? The ones that are almost indistinguishable from each other? Yeah, I’d rather kick exploding chickens any day. The real bulk of the replay value comes from trying to max out each hero, which is artificially lengthened by the board game I mentioned earlier. But after your first few heroes are completed, will you really care anymore? The only reason I want to keep playing is for the ability to transfer gold to Fable: The Journey when it’s eventually released.

When it’s all said and done, Fable Heroes is a fun little distraction while we wait for the next major entry, especially with a party of four either locally or through Xbox Live. The charming presentation will crack a smile from even the toughest of tough guys and competing against friends is a blast. With that said, the tedious upgrade system, the repetitive action and the huge gap in the amount of content vs. the amount of unlikable almost promises that most gamers won’t play the same small stages over and over just to see the next new character or power. It’s not like I was expecting a full on Fable experience, but with the quality and depth of the Xbox Live titles of today, Fable Heroes doesn’t even compete with older titles like Castle Crashers. Fans of the series will appreciate this new take on their favorite franchise moments, and will even give them a head start with the Kinect version scheduled for this year. But if you were looking for the next great hero of Albion, you won’t find him here.

 

Geekscape Games Reviews “Prototype 2”

by MoreLikeAndy

Between the fast paced arcade action and the plethora of abilities to rain down destruction that would make The Hulk proud, Prototype had its charming moments. Saddled with uneven difficulty spikes and some infuriating boss battles, I still managed to have some fun with Alex Mercer. Now, with new protagonist James Heller in the pilot seat, we end up with a more grounded, yet sadly monotonous romp through New York City in Prototype 2.

Let’s get right to it. The story’s twists and turns are easy to see coming and at times seem to drag out longer than they are welcomed. Even with the starky colored cut scenes that is reminiscent of The Saboteur, I wanted to do nothing more than get back into the action. You can easily ignore the story for the most part and just focus on pure destruction like in the previous title… once you get most of your powers and abilities that is. It’s still a pain to acquire powers as you progress through the story yet I understand why it has to be done. At least you are not teased with being fully powered up at the very beginning only to have it stripped away afterwards (I’m looking at you Prototype 1).

I wasn’t too keen on the open world setting and having the 3 sections of the city separated to stretch the story out more felt a little too reminiscent of GTA.  You cannot enter these new areas until the story is ready to take you there. Even then, you can’t just use your super jumps, gliding or speed to get to the next area. You have to hijack a pilot and commandeer a specific helicopter to travel to it. What’s the point of having all of these wonderful powers if I can’t traverse a destroyed bridge to get to the new area? All I could come up with is that Radical Entertainment are using this delay to load the maps of the area.

Getting upgrades are a matter of doing repetitive side missions that I found strangely fun. Getting all of the upgrades just meant that I would be able to cause more destruction when roaming the streets or rooftops of NYC. For instance, getting the Bulletproof mutation upgrade and dropping into the middle of a bunch of soldiers never gets old. I wish there was a laugh command for Heller as I sit there with bullets ricocheting off of him.

I was a little happy to see that Prototype 2  felt slower in terms of the speed of which Heller moves around. The thing that I hated the most in Prototype was how wildly out of control Alex Mercer felt. He would go all over the place and that would impede boss fights to the point of controller tossing anger. You still get the occasional mistake of Heller picking up a barrel instead of stealth absorbing the base commander like you wanted to. Still, I would shrug that little blunder off and just use it as an excuse to do a mass cleansing of the base personnel.

Ultimately, the ending left me feeling like Radical didn’t have the time to do something on a more grander scale. I can’t further explain this without ruining the game’s ending but I can say that the confinement of the ending had me wishing for a more grandiose setting. At least giving the players the option of a New Game+ and some challenges from RADNET would keep them invested in the game a little longer. RADNET has some decent challenges and events with unlocks to developer diaries, in-game outtakes and new skins to use in-game.

Prototype 2 is easily accessible to anyone who is new to the series with an inclusion of a brief recap video of Prototype in the main menus. Even so, don’t worry about the story so much. Just do what I did, run to the top of the highest building you can find, jump off and see how many people you can wipe out when you hit the ground. Or if you want to keep it simple, jump kick a military helicopter. In this series, the action is definitely the focus over the rail thin plot.

Geekscape Games Reviews Trials Evolution

by MoreLikeAndy

Another week has passed in April and we have another puzzle game, SURPRISE! Trials Evolution also starts off Microsoft’s Arcade Next event this week and what a strong opening it is. Be prepared to get aggravated and frustrated, in a good way.

Trials Evolution does what it did previously in Trials HD, dirt bike riding, physics-based platforming over tracks that present obstacles in your path. At first glance, you may say Trials Evolution is just a minor update to Trials HD. Once you start the game, however, you will see just how minor those changes are really bigger than you think. Taking to the outdoors, Trials Evolution has brought a more traditional feel to the dirt bike atmosphere. At times, I caught myself starting too much at all the action in the background of some levels that I would crash repeatedly in the same spot. Just wait until the Limbo inspired level, You will smile at how amazing it looks.

Everything is still broken down to difficulty levels of tracks and the license tests, which serve as a tutorial on how to deal with the upcoming obstacles in the next set of tracks. I didn’t face that much hardship until I reached the B class license tracks. The one thing you cannot have that will doom me until I know better is a lead foot. Sure, early on you can go full throttle non-stop. Later on you will need to develop a skill of knowing when to throttle and when not to. I found the controls for leaning and balancing on the dirt bike a little too loose at times causing me to over correct my angle and crash on my head, which is bad in case you were wondering. Spending a little time in the early tracks learning the nuances of the controls will help you in the later tracks, trust me.

Besides being outdoors, multiplayer has been added, much to my joy. The chaotic jumble of four players racing is something I thought would never work in Trials Evolution. I was very wrong. Getting the best out of multiplayer would be getting four friends together for some local play so you can do all sorts of devious things to ruin their run while you try to come in first. Online play is still fun if you can’t pull four people together at your domicile. It is a little tricky to see what lane you are in at the beginning of each race so I found it easier to customize my rider in a way that stands out to me. Matches were found pretty fast for me so I don’t see anyone really having an issue with load times.

RedLynx really outdid themselves with their track editor. Now, I am terrible at design so I will never have a track made and uploaded ever. Not that I need to make one since there are already a decent amount of amazing user created tracks out. There’s even an FPS shooter track! Pretty insane what you can do with the editor. There are two editors for making tracks, Lite and Pro, with the main difference between the two being Pro gets more options such as parts and small items, example groups and trigger events. Sharing your creations is easier since everyone can see them instead of only being able to send them to people on your friends list like Trials HD did.

Trials Evolution may be the best XBLA title to come out this year and might end up on a lot of top 10 lists come December. Grab your helmet, gas up the bike and come hangout with me and break a couple track records, along with some bones. Maybe we can get this guy to rap about our broken bones in the hospital.

http://youtu.be/2NnKjSAUpNc

Leaked Halo 4 Screens Show New Player Models, Environments and More!

by jake108

A number of screenshots including concept art, player models, and a couple of in-game screens have surfaced online and do not disappoint. It’s unclear how far into the future Halo 4 is taking place in reference to Halo 3, but I believe we are to be under the impression that it is a few years, and not quite a few years. I don’t want to delay it much further, but this is something nice to look at following a November 6th release date announcement.

Enjoy!

Let us know what your favorite is below!

Plentiful News From CD Projekt RED & GOG.com Spring Conference

by MoreLikeAndy

CD Projekt RED announced some great things at today’s Spring Conference about The Witcher series that was streamed live on Ustream for all to watch. Besides showing off gameplay from the Xbox 360 version of The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition which comes out on April 17th, here are some highlights from the conference.

iOS users will get an interactive motion comic starring the witcher himself, Geralt. It will be released free for both iPhone and iPad on April 17th. Another thing for the Apple crowd is you can now buy and play The Witcher: Enhanced Edition on your Mac through Steam. As with other PC games getting a Mac version on Steam, if you own a copy of The Witcher on Steam for PC already, you get the Mac version for free. If you’re not a person that has PC and Mac in the same household, you can pay the $9.99 for it now on Steam.

We all know how backing up your data is important and CD Projekt Red and GOG.com seems to agree with offering a free back-up digital copy of The Witcher 2 to anyone who purchases the game. No matter where you bought it from or when. On April 17th, point your web browser of choice to http://www.gog.com/en/page/witcherbackup and sign into your account to have your back-up copy waiting.

PC gamers that already have The Witcher 2 will get access to the “Enhanced Edition” update on April 17th with preloading the update starting April 11th.

The biggest thing to come out of CD Projekt RED’s conference was their crazy campaign that will give out 1000 copies of The Witcher 2 on Xbox 360 to “enthusiast” reviewers. Simply go to http://thewitcher.com/review and fill out the form. CD Projekt RED will contact you a few days later. It’s that easy. Everyone thinks they can write better reviews than the paid professionals. Now’s your time to prove it.

Not to be left out of all the fun, GOG.com had some news to drop as well. From the developers of Machiarium comes a new title, Botanicula.

Botanicula will release on April 19th for $9.99

GOG.com will also start offering “Premium Edition” games with some newer titles to arrive on their site starting with Assassin’s Creed: Director’s Cut and Heroes of Might & Magic V Bundle that includes both expansion packs. Just like the older games on GOG.com, you will get a ton of stuff with the Premium Edition games from official art books to soundtracks and more.

Finally, the reason why GOG.com is probably loading slow for everyone. For the next 48 hours, you can get Fallout for free. If you ever wanted to see how the series got its start, go get your free copy now.

Beta for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Starts April 19th, Ghost Recon Network Service Announced

by MoreLikeAndy

Finally! After waiting for so, so long, the beta is coming for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. On April 19th, you can get into the beta three different ways:

1. Own a copy of Splinter Cell: Conviction. You can access the beta from the game.

2. Get a beta key for the Xbox 360 version by pre-ordering the Ghost Recon: FS at GameStop.

3. Playstation Plus members will receive a beta key.

No word on when PC gamers will get a crack at the beta yet. Hopefully, we will see some news this month about it. The window for the beta is April 19th to May 2nd. I reached out to Ubisoft for info if there is another way for PS3 gamers to get a beta key other than Playstation Plus. I will update this post when I get a reply.

Ubisoft also announces Ghost Recon Network. Much like how Call of Duty Elite has a website that integrates alongside the mobile apps for stats in the game and changing weapon load outs, Ghost Recon Network will function the same way.

Customize and share in-game weapons on the go
•  Use GunSmith mobile to customize weapons down to their inner parts in 3D and sync them to consoles
•  Publish weapons to the GunSmith Gallery and browse guns posted by the Ghost Recon Network community

Track player history and friends’ in-game status
•  Access personal player performance on Ghost Recon: Future Soldier & upcoming Ghost Recon games and compare stats on leaderboards
•  Receive challenges, friend activity reports and community updates via the website or push notifications on smartphones and tablets

Receive exclusive rewards
•  Download the free Ghost Recon Network app at launch to unlock additional attachment credits in Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
•  Earn weapons and weapon skins in Ghost Recon: Future Soldier by playing other Ghost Recon games or interacting with other Ghost Recon experiences

Become a better player
•  Study detailed game information and heatmaps to prepare for the next battle
•  Build and manage your squad, add recruits and search for competing squads

Players will be able to play around with Ghost Recon Network and the android app during the beta period. Can’t wait to see you all in the beta. Now where did I put my Splinter Cell: Conviction box?

Geekscape Games Reviews “Diabolical Pitch”! A Swing and a Hit!

by jake108

Diabolical Pitch is one of the more unique games available as a Kinect title for the Xbox Live Arcade. Don’t worry, this is a good thing.

Set in a twisted amusement park, you must fight waves of enemies as you progress through different “worlds” with your bionic pitching arm. What sets Diabolical Pitch a part from other games is of course its Kinect functionality, but when coupled its art style and cutscenes reminiscent of motion-comics, Diabolical Pitch sets the stage for future Kinect Arcade titles.

Perhaps my favorite part of Diabolical Pitch is in fact the atmosphere and enemies. With each cutscene, I found myself sitting on the couch, watching the screen intently…and not resting. Gamers will be happy to know that there are more than just the two kinds of enemies seen above. At the end of each world, players will have to engage in a boss fight, but nothing a “Diabolical Pitch” can’t handle.

Gameplay is simple and easy to pick up in the beginning stages, and yes, it is as easy as it looks. As players progress through the different worlds, the option to upgrade your character and even purchase new special pitches become available via cards. In order to engage the “Diabolical Pitch” mode, which is essentially your special attack, players will have to strike a pose in front of their Kinect, and yes, it can be as funny as it looks in real life.

Diabolical Pitch also offers up local multiplayer/co-op in which you and a friend can combine powers to wipe out enemies, or betray one another to win it all. Leaderboards are also present, along with your fastest pitch on each stage.

Diabolical Pitch is available now on the Xbox Live Arcade for 800 Microsoft Points, and worth every point. This arcade title is surely not one to miss for fellow Kinect owners!

Geekscape Games Reviews Defenders of Ardania

by Josh Jackson

Real time strategy games have traditionally had a hard time finding an audience on consoles. Let’s face it, a keyboard and mouse are usually going to be best for the fast paced map management that the genre requires. But after starting up Defenders of Ardania, I felt that those who’s Windows 95 PC’s couldn’t run any recent titles, this Xbox 360 version might be what can get a new audience’s foot in the door. Or at least it could have been, but it never does much to hold your attention for long.

It takes awhile before things become this exciting.

Blending elements of RTS games with traditional tower defense, Defenders of Ardania makes you into a king who must manage territory, troops and resources to continuously build defenses against the evil threatening to destroy your castle. Focusing on both defense and offense, the key to victory is to strategically place towers that can attack incoming enemies while blocking their path towards your castle. At the same time, you’ll try to send in your various units ranging from standard infantry, defensive damage sponges and warriors that can attack enemies that they cross paths. Both sides gain resources by selling towers and destroying enemies, so the more pain you bring to your foes, the more you have to work with. Whoever destroys the opponent’s castle first wins, except for certain chapters in the extensive campaign where additional objectives will be added on… assuming you know what they are. There was more than one occaision where I destroyed the enemy castle, only for a last second objective to be tacked on with little explaination, (aside from a blink and you’ll miss it box of text.) Two minutes later, I somehow lost and had to redo the whole 30 minute stage over again. There’s nothing more exciting than having to redo a whole stage for reasons you don’t understand!

The single player campaign does a good job of getting you acquainted with the game’s fundamentals, but it moves way too slow for my tastes. After about four missions in, (about two hours later,) the laughably bad narrator, (sounding like a really awful Sean Connery impersonator,) loosens up the leesh and leaves you to your own devices for the most part. But even as new abilities such as magic become unlocked, more offensive techniques open up and more units are introduced, the game pretty much boils down to whoever spams out the most units with the best tower placement wins. The majority of the maps are so small, there’s really not a lot of improvisation that can be brought in anyway, so it’s not like you have much choice. And by the way, it doesn’t help that the console controls are needlessly confusing, (why do I have to build towers with A, but I send out units with X?) Playing online adds more strategy since you’ll have real people who can either help or hinder your progress in its Vs. and Survival modes, but it still doesn’t alieviate the fundimental flaw with the game… that it’s just not that fun to play.

Press X to win.

So is Defenders of Ardania a lost cause? Not completely, since I do feel that it’s early stages are a great introduction for those new to strategy games as far as the basics and its visuals are pretty damn good. But long before the story is finished, newbies will get bored and want something more in depth while RTS vets are likely to scoff at how limited this game is compared to some of the greats. And at 1200 Microsoft Points, ($15 for those outside of Xbox land,) it’s a pretty steep price for a game with only a handful of functions. My advice? Try the demo and get the hang of the mechanics, because the full game doesn’t change much, then move on to a deeper console experience like Halo Wars. I hear it’s pretty cheap right now. But as far as this game goes, it’s far to limited to justify a purchase, and there’s not much anyone can do to defend it.

Platform: Xbox Live Arcade, (Also on PC, PSN)

Price: 1200 MSP, ($15)

Ninja Gaiden 3 is Here… and I’m Terrified.

by Josh Jackson

Well, terrified is probably overstating it, but let’s just say I’m nervous.

Ever since Team Ninja revived the classic series on the Xbox in 2004, I’ve been on board with anything that has Ryu Hayabusa on the cover. When it came to action games, nothing would quench my bloodthirst better than the unforgiving, yet rewarding fights that gamers were guaranteed when they saw the words Ninja Gaiden on the box. But 2004 was a long time ago. Since then, head designer Tomonobu Itagaki left his team amidst a dispute with publisher Tecmo, Tecmo themselves have merged with Koei and as for the team itself, it’s had its share of hits, (like Dead or Alive Dimensions,) and misses, (the controversy surrounding Metroid: Other M comes to mind.) Last year at E3 when I saw the new Ninja Gaiden on display, I ran over to the open demo, anxious to see how one of my favorite franchises was moving forward. I booted up the game, selected hard mode, (of course!) and got down to cutting foo’s up.

But instead of being excited when I walked away, all I could think was, “what happened?”

I remember when a boss like this would be difficult.

What I played felt like a completely different game. So many key aspects that made the first two so great were gone. When I was trudging through the streets of whatever European town Ryu was in, I couldn’t help but be distracted by the lack of essence dropped by enemies, numerous “cinematic” action sequences that inturrupted the fast paced game play with almost every kill and Ryu’s red glowing arm that would activate an attack that instantly wiped out all the enemies on screen after a small amount of foes were slaughtered regularly. Wall running, a trademark of the series, was gone in place of really… slow… kunai… wall climbing. Oh, and half assed stealth sections were added where a mysterious fog would keep enemies from seeing you. I understand that they’re trying to make 3 stand out from the previous two, but all of these areas had no flow. It was like they were just slapped together for the sake of some kind of false variety.

My biggest fault with it though… was that I didn’t die. Not once. I beat all the enemies, climbed all the boring walls and took down a giant mech with hardly any effort. Remember, this was on hard in a game with a reputation for being challenging on easy. Knowing that I could just haphazardly run through the game without a care in the world, how is this Ninja Gaiden?

These soldiers just line up to die.

I’ve tried to stay away from reviews, and I’m about to boot up my GameFly copy to see how it turned out, but the fact that I’m even getting what was always a must buy franchise through GameFly is telling for me. If I wanted a button masher where I could just headbutt my controller through to the credits while half my game consists of quick time events, I’d play God of War. But if this is the direction Ninja Gaiden is heading in, I fear for it. I fear for Dead or Alive. And I fear for one of my favorite developers in Team Ninja. As I start this game up, I’m hope I’ll find that the fear is unfounded… but from what I’ve played so far, I’m afraid that it won’t be.

 

Sine Mora – Geekscape Review

by jake108

Whenever I pick up a game that features a sort of ship flying horizontally across the screen whilst shooting down enemies, my mind immediately goes to the Gradius series.

Upon seeing gameplay trailers, Sine Mora immediately piqued my interest. Releasing on the Xbox Live Arcade today, should you drop 1200 of your hard earned Microsoft Points or settle for an old favorite like Aegis Wing?

Sine Mora uses a blend of time travel, talking badass animals, and steampunk-inspired bosses. Visually, the Sine Mora looks fantastic. Not once did I get tired of looking at the assortment of backdrops and bosses the game had to offer. Character designs are also unique in that there are no actual Humans, but rather animals on a fictional warring planet.

To explain key plot points, Sine Mora does not employ the use of cutscenes, but instead displays a paragraph or three of English text while a voice actor reads it over in Japanese. This method is definitely a preference, sometimes shared by gamers. Nevertheless, depending on how invested you are in the story and characters, this screen of text can go away with the press of ‘A’.

Sine Mora suffers from a case of the enjoyment of killing things more than caring why you’re doing so in the first place. Being a game that’s not supposed to scare away “newcomers to the genre”, newcomer or not, it all depends on if you like to read between stages.

Combat in the game is unique in that each character/plane comes with a set of attacks and special ability. Some special abilities include speeding up, slowing down time, and a range of devastating attacks which can only be used after collecting the right orb. Players must defeat enemies before a timer located at the top of the screen runs out. Killing enemies will increase your time. While this can prove frustrating at times, it does provide the necessity to strategically utilize everything in your arsenal.

Upon destroying some enemies, you’ll see a variety of power-ups floating around. These power-ups extend your time to prevent you from dying, increasing your firepower, increasing the amount of special attacks, or sometimes provide extra shielding.

Sine Mora does not offer co-op or multiplayer of any kind. The game does include leaderboards for the three different modes, which are: Story, Score Attack, and Arcade. Each mode uses the same set of environments provided in the game’s story. Players can also practice against bosses you’ve already faced.

While I don’t think Sine Mora‘s story was as rewarding as its gameplay, some gamers may find this title to be worth the 1200 Microsoft Points. Then again, if you’re looking from some standard action reminiscent of my beloved Gradius, save your money and download Aegis Wing for free. Sine Mora is available today on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Former BioWare Designer Defends Day 1 DLC: My Response

by Josh Jackson

Unless you haven’t been on the internet within the last couple of weeks, you’ll probably know that there’s been a storm of controversy over day 1 DLC for our favorite video games, more specifically for Mass Effect 3. A large amount of gamers have been in an uproar over the idea that unless you were lucky enough to grab a copy of the collector’s edition or are willing to pay an extra $10 on top of the $60 charged for the game itself, you’ll be missing a quest line and party member that adds much to the story for long time Mass Effect followers. One side says it’s a shady practice to release content that’s ready on day one seperately from the main game, especially because many of the files for the content were discovered on the disc. BioWare and its defenders have said that the DLC is created on a separate budget after the main content is finished, and developing it in this way helps keep the team working rather than laying them off.

But how did former BioWare designer Christina Norman respond to the criticism at a recent GDC panel?

“There’s no point in releasing DLC a year after your game has come out when most people have already sold your game back to GameStop three times,” she told the audience. “That means getting it out early; that means even day-one DLC. That is a terrible thing to some players. Players rant–they know nothing about this DLC that’s coming out except its name. But then it’s ‘oh this game must be incomplete, the game must be ruined.’ Game developers are not evil. (Some are evil.) But most are not evil.”

“We just want to release awesome stuff. Players please, give us a chance. Judge our games based on what they are. Judge the DLC based on what it is. Stop thinking you’re a producer and telling us when and where we should be building our content.”

I’ve never been a fan of DLC for the sake of it, especially when it’s already on the disc or released on the first day, but I can respect the idea that it’s usually not the developer’s call. However, when one such developer decides to go on a rant like the one above, I can’t help but become completely floored over how out of touch some people in the industry can be. Because of that, I can’t help but break down the above quote in response.

“There’s no point in releasing DLC a year after your game has come out when most people have already sold your game back to GameStop three times,”

Oh, the GameStop argument. This comes up so often as an excuse to make publishers look like the victims. But aside from the hypocrisy of how publishers give gamers tons of incentives to shop at GameStop over other retailers, why not get down to WHY people trade in their games? I personally detest Gamestop and their business practices, so it’s rare that I’ll defend them, but maybe if developers realized that the problem lies with their games and not the “evils” of the used market, there would be fewer people handing off their games for a quarter of what they paid for it.

Games are becoming more and more expensive. The last time games were in the $60 range were in the SNES and Genesis days where cartridges were far more expensive to produce than discs. Since DVD and even Blu Ray discs are much cheaper to manufacture, there’s really no reason to charge more as far as I can see. But wait, I forgot that games cost so much more to make these days. With multimillion dollar budgets that go mostly towards graphics, voice acting and commercials, the biggest part of the game often gets overlooked… and that’s the game itself.

Ironically, BioWare didn’t seem to have this fear that people will have traded their games in “three times over,” within a year back when games like Neverwinter Nights released expansions long after release. And by expansions, I mean big, meaningful expansions that gave us hours of extra game play, unlike the laughably short Zaeed and Kasumi missions from ME2. I understand that PC games usually can’t be sold used, but even ME1 released DLC long after it first hit store shelves. So what’s the difference between these games compared to ME2 and 3? I played the first game for about 70 hours. It had so many areas to explore, side missions to find and squadmate interactions to delve into. I never even thought about trading it in. But part 2? I finished it once about five hours faster than I did the first one, which by the way, INCLUDED all of the side missions.

The fact of the matter is that games today are getting shorter and shorter. If we were sold games that would either give us tons of content or were so memorable that we would always want to keep it on our shelves, we wouldn’t trade them in. I mean used games, rentals and borrowing aren’t some amazing new invention… I’ve been doing some form of the three for over 20 years now. And you know what? The gaming industry is still alive and well. Myself, as well as many gamers that grew up with the games I grew up with would rarely think of selling their copies of Mario World, Sonic 2 or Final Fantasy III. You know why? Because they were worth keeping.

“Players rant–they know nothing about this DLC that’s coming out except its name. But then it’s ‘oh this game must be incomplete, the game must be ruined.’ Game developers are not evil. (Some are evil.) But most are not evil.”

You Want This Guy? Prepare to Pay Up!

Now Ms. Norman, I wouldn’t say players know “nothing” about the DLC. They knew that the character’s dialogue was in the script as early as last year when it leaked on the internet. They knew he was coming when the contents of the collector’s edition were released almost nine months ago. They also knew that many of his files were already on the disc despite being promised that the DLC went into development after the main game was finished and sent for certification. I wouldn’t say the game is ruined. I wouldn’t be as rash as to label the hardworking game makers as “evil.” But to say we know nothing about it when we clearly have an idea that including this character on day one in one way or another was always the plan, how could you not expect people to react negatively? If anything, it’s the players that shouldn’t be labeled as evil because being angry over the idea of having to dish out more money on day one for content that’s already finished is more than justifiable.

They probably wished they didn't go on record with this...

“Judge our games based on what they are. Judge the DLC based on what it is.”

Yes, lets. Let’s judge it on the fact that PS3 versions are running significantly slower at 30 FPS, giving those gamers an inferior experience. Let’s judge it on the fact that some 360 gamers are finding that they can’t access the game at all with their gamer tags. Let’s judge it on the fact that some players are being greeted with a level 1 Shepard mid game. Maybe if the game was properly tested instead of throwing a ton of resources into day one DLC, we wouldn’t be where we are now.

And lastly, the real kicker.

“Stop thinking you’re a producer and telling us when and where we should be building our content.”

Gamers are Unhappy. They Must Want to be Producers!

Wow, excuse me. I didn’t realize that calling out a company on something the consumer feels is unfair means that they think they’re producers. Last I checked, the manufacturer is supposed to answer to the consumer, not the other way around. True, there will always be those that don’t know or don’t care about business practices and just want to be entertained, and thanks to them, a huge game like Mass Effect will always be profitable. But that doesn’t mean that the paying customers that voice their opinions are any less important, or should be dismissed as someone who’s “thinking they’re a producer.” This elitist attitude is turning off many loyal gamers, and while you’ll always have the average joe who will pick up any high profile game with guns and explosions, those fans that have supported the company from Neverwinter to KOTOR to Jade Empire until now are going to start disappearing.

It’s not like the blame lies with the developer exclusively. After all, ME1 was the last game released by BioWare on consoles before EA purchased them. As I mentioned, ME1 didn’t have day one DLC or this ridiculous fear that everyone will have traded the game in after six months. I know they have little choice but to trumpet the company line. We know what happened when Infinity Ward got tired of Activision’s crap. Or when Tomonobu Itagaki got fed up with Tecmo. But it doesn’t make it any easier to feel that a once respected developer is answering more to their employers than the people who give them a reason to be employed.

So Ms. Norman, you have your perspective and the gamers who disagree have theirs. But please, don’t dismiss us with this combative tone. It’s easy to treat the complaints as unwarranted after you’ve already achieved success through the ones issuing them. But don’t forget, without gamers, there would be no game developers. With the growing mistrust between gamers and game makers, it’s getting harder and harder to feel good about a $60 purchase. I know it would be easier if we all just shut up and gulped down whatever you feed us like good little shoppers, but since that’s not going to happen, try treating your fans like people and not dollar signs next time.

343 Industries Takes Us Inside the Making of Halo 4

by jake108

If you’re like me, you’ll want to bypass all the words of hype, so, here are your first Halo 4 IN-GAME screenshots:

343 Industries promises Halo 4 to be the best-looking game on the Xbox 360. With a release date that’s far off into the holidays of this year, it’s looking like 343i may keep that promise.

As you can see, the first two screenshots are of Master Chief, while the third is a multiplayer model probably wearing default armor. I’m sure seeing the Master Chief’s armor in-game will stir even more debate as to why 343i made some changes. There are many reasons, and we can save that for another time.

I’m sure many gamers will be overjoyed with an updated Battle Rifle making the cut for this new installment. As you watch the video below, keep an eye out for some pleasant reveals:

Halo 4 is set to release this holiday season. Here is our extensive gallery from the tour:

 

What you Need to Know About Street Fighter X Tekken

by Josh Jackson

Street Fighter X Tekken is only a few days away and fighting game fans across the country are frothing at the mouth for the chance to play this new crossover. As we get our arcade sticks ready in anticipation, there are several new features and mechanics that haven’t been used in this type of fighter before. It’s never good to go into a fight unprepared, but we’ve got you covered. With these tips, you’ll be sure to have a leg up on the competition , or at least you’ll improve your chances of not getting beaten into a bloody heap.

Think Street Fighter IV meets Tekken Tag Tournament:

Seeing as this is the first of two crossovers featuring the two franchises, Capcom has taken the driver’s seat at the first round. It makes sense that this version would take after their most popular fighter at the moment and use similar graphics and mechanics. Some SFIV combos work when using characters from that fighter with plenty of differences to make them somewhat fresh while using the traditional six button layout. Whereas every character on the roster has enhanced “EX” versions of their special attacks after using a third of your super meter. The only real difference is that super moves are done with one quarter circle and three punches like Marvel vs Capcom rather than the Street Fighter style of double quarter circles with one punch or kick.

Poison Finally Makes her (?) 2D Fighter Debut!

But if this was exactly like SFIV, there would be no reason to buy it, (unless you REALLY want Tekken characters to use,) so naturally, Tekken’s mechanics come into play as well. Combos that juggle opponents are essential to victory, and the wall bounce animation from Tatsunoko vs Capcom and MVC3 returns to help chain moves together. Before you get too cocky, you’ll always want to make sure to watch your health, because like Tekken Tag, the round is over when your first fighter is KO’d. There’s no shame in switching!

The Tekken Characters Actually Work!

When the game was announced, I had my doubts on how well the Tekken characters would be adapted to the 2D world of Street Fighter. After playing the game, I’m happy to say that not only do they work, but they’re some of the most enjoyable characters on the roster. Sure, they took some liberties with how they play, (some characters like Jin have been given projectiles while all characters can jump ten feet in the air like the SF guys,) but for the most part, all of them keep their signature moves and combos while fitting in a 2D environment. So when you see a guy tearing it up with Julia and Kazuya, make sure you say hi to me.

Julia Promptly Preparing Ryu’s Anus.

The Art of Tagging Out

Tagging out in a 2 on 2 game is going to be important no matter how you look at it, so it’s fortunate that the game has numerous ways to do it. If you want to be a bore about it, pressing the mid punch and kick buttons uses a standard tag, but leaves your incoming character vulnerable. To make things way more interesting, by linking a combo with a double tap of the fierce or roundhouse buttons, the last hit will trigger a launcher tag, which will knock the opponent in the air and automatically switch to your partner so they can continue the juggle. Just make sure not to miss the launcher unless you want your fighter to stand there for a good second, (an eternity in a fighting game.)

If you want to deal the most damage while being a bit of a show off, the strongest way of utilizing your partner is through the double team supers or the cross rush technique that gives you control of both characters at once. With a quick quarter circle with the two middle attack buttons, the double team super, called cross arts, links together each of your fighter’s super moves for a huge amount of damage. If your opponent manages to survive, your second fighter will take over to finish the job. A backwards quarter circle with the two mid attack buttons activates cross rush, which lets you create combos that are otherwise impossible by having both of your fighters on screen at once for an all out assault. Be careful with this technique however, because both characters will be vulnerable to attack.

Talk About Double Teaming.

Infinity Gems

To give an aspect of customization to each team, players can equip up to three gems that give your team an attribute boost. Each one has various effects, such as boosting your power, increasing your defense or building your super meter. Some are automatically active where as others aren’t usable until certain conditions are met, like landing three punches for example. Some of these have drawbacks, such as the super meter boosting gem that reduces the amount of damage that your fighter deals in exchange for the increase. Keep in mind that buying the limited edition and preordering through certain retailers will nab you exclusive gems. I can’t say I’m happy about certain players having a statistical boost above those who buy the regular game or don’t preorder, so I can only hope that gems can be disabled in versus modes.

Opening Pandora’s Box

Just to get it out of the way, I can’t stand these new mechanics that help players come back from behind. To me, you should be able to win on your own and not need a crutch when you’re simply not the better fighter. With that said, if I had to choose one that I can tolerate the most, Pandora would be it. Unlike OTHER Vs. games, Pandora can only be activated when you have less than 25% health, but it sacrifices your active fighter. The character that remains receives infinite meter, a boost in power and a speed increase, but there’s a huge drawback. The Pandora user has a small amount of time to win, but if they don’t end it soon, they automatically lose. I was in a match where Hugo got me in his grapple attack for the win, but his Pandora meter ran out right before he landed the attack. Hugo collapsed and both characters were on the ground, but I was awarded the win. So if you’re going to activate it, be ready to go all out!

It’s All or Nothing!

So that about scratches the surface with Street Fighter X Tekken. If you were bored interested enough to read these tips, you’ll have more of a fighting chance. By building on the solid SFIV engine, throwing in the aspects of Tekken and creating options new to this version, fighting game players will have their hands full. How excited are you for its release this Tuesday? Let us know below!

Check Out Street Fighter X Tekken in LA This Thursday!

by Josh Jackson

Are you in LA this Thursday?  Do you like fighting games? If you don’t, do you like free food and drinks? Of course you do! Well you’re in luck, because Capcom is throwing a huge Street Fighter X Tekken party from 8PM to midnight on March 1st.

Gamers will get another chance to try out the upcoming fighting game before its release, using a tweaked Street Fighter IV engine to bring the two universes together in this huge crossover brawler. Featuring the best of the best from the the Tekken and Street Fighter rosters, we’ll finally be able to play out some of our potential dream matches. Ryu vs Kazuya? Guile vs Paul in the battle of Americans with screwed up hair? Or Zangief vs. Kuma in a bear vs bear wrestler match?

Come play the game, meet some people, check out the cosplayers and hang out. But make sure to register ahead of time, because space is limited to the first 1000 and ID is required since the event is 21 and over. If you haven’t done so, you can register here.

Microsoft Celebrates 10 Years of Xbox With ‘Anniversary Bundle’

by jake108

I was browsing around Amazon France when I stumbled upon a listing for this console bundle celebrating a 10 years of Xbox. Set to release March 9th, this bundle may seem a bit underwhelming to many.

With a price around $400, one might expect a Kinect, with a Kinect-enabled game, and Gears of War 3 instead of ‘2’.

Here’s the full listing:

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

Gears of War 2 [Code for a Digital Copy]

Halo: Reach [Code for a Digital Copy]

Fable III [Code for a Digital Copy]

Two Controllers

250 GB Hard Drive

3 Months of Xbox Live

Still, it’s nice to see many bundles with different hardware and games available to gamers.