New Games |
- League of Legends' Graves patch brings the change
- 3DS firmware update going live on November 4 in Europe
- Skyward Sword not originally destined for motion control
- New Firefall trailer shows the Dreadnaught battleframe
- Battlefield multiplayer trailer and first look at Karkand
- The DTOID Show: It's our Saints Row 3 EXTRAVAGAZMO!
- PSN games and points no longer on Amazon
- Meet a model by beating her NFS: The Run demo race time
- Integration: Bring on console domination
- Unboxing Final Fantasy Type-0's LE soundtrack
- Review: Wizorb
- EVE dev admits 'mistakes,' reduces workforce by 20%
- 6 new King of Fighters XIII trailers will keep you happy
- Review: Deus Ex: Human Revolution - The Missing Link
- EEDAR: 51% of gamers bought DLC this past year
- Dragon Quest X has a bunch of new screenshots
- Get your science on with Mercury Hg
- DCUO: Diary of a Green Lantern Corps reservist part II
- New trailer for Hunting Party has the whole family kill
| League of Legends' Graves patch brings the change Posted: 19 Oct 2011 04:00 PM PDT
Riot Games is always good about keeping League of Legends up to date, adding new modes and characters, as well as balancing items and current combatants. Today is no different with a rather significant patch to the game. It's nothing as big as the Dominion patch, but balancing is done, a new character is added, four limited-edition Halloween skins are introduced, and Dominion has been altered. The biggest addition is the western-style, double-barrel shotgun-toting bounty hunter Graves. He's a ranged fighter whose skills emphasize getting up close for short periods of time. I've seen him around in a few matches throughout the day, and he seems like he's a very fun champ to use. The shotgun is fitting for him. In Dominion, there are a number of changes to how personal score is tallied, to help show proper rewarding for defensive actions. In addition, the global buff is being tweaked to emphasize the early game fighting in that mode. The item Hextech Gunblade is also getting some stat reductions to prevent people from becoming overpowered by stacking multiples of them. Topping it all off are character balances. Notable changes include Skarner and Corki. Corki's Gatling Gun move is getting some base damage to make it less hit or miss. Skarner is getting attack speed buffs, as well as buffs to the duration of his ultimate move. You can read the in-depth patch notes on the League of Legends website. |
| 3DS firmware update going live on November 4 in Europe Posted: 19 Oct 2011 03:30 PM PDT Ahead of Nintendo's online 3DS presentation this Friday, word has spread that the new 3DS firmware will be available on November 4 in Europe, and presumably on or around that date in other regions as well. It's likely we'll find out more about what's in the update during the presentation, but it's supposed to include 3D video recording functionality, another StreetPass game, and an improved eShop interface at the very least. I won't be surprised when this turns out to be a ploy to make us watch more Gatchaman. Nintendo 3DS Update Coming to Europe November 4 [Nintendo World Report via Tiny Cartridge] |
| Skyward Sword not originally destined for motion control Posted: 19 Oct 2011 03:00 PM PDT In an extremely interesting, though not so surprising revelation from the latest Iwata Asks it seems The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword was initially intended to sport a purely button-based control scheme. Apparently series producer Eiji Aonuma had no intention of building the title around the Wii's MotionPlus, but was later inspired by the fencing event in Wii Sports Resort. It's a curious bit of information. My inner cynic is curious as to why MotionPlus wasn't in the plans from the start. Similarly, it seems the title's flying beetle was first a simple boomerang, surprised? It then evolved into what lead designer Ryuji Kobayashi describes as a flying hand used to grab items. Yeah, the beetle is significantly more impressive. Good call on that one. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around this. When PlayStation's Move controller launched, it was injected into every single system exclusive. Rumors swirled of cut content in favor of motion controls. Yet the next great entry to one of Nintendo's flagship franchises and the last vestige of "hardcore" gaming on the Wii wasn't planned with motion control in mind? Curious, very curious. Regardless, the jump to MotionPlus seems like an all-around solid decision and I can't wait to get my hands on the game. Skyward Sword initially had button control - Article [Eurogamer via Siliconera]
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| New Firefall trailer shows the Dreadnaught battleframe Posted: 19 Oct 2011 02:30 PM PDT
Despite going to both PAX Prime and PAX East in 2011 and Firefall's noticeable presence at both events, I haven't actually tried it yet. Which is a shame, because the more I see of the game, the more I feel compelled to play it. And this new trailer for the Dreadnaught battleframe shows the different talents and abilities you'll have on offer if you pick this minigun-carrying class. Unlike the slow, pondering Heavy from Team Fortress 2, the Dreadnaught seems to have a good range of skills that will stop them from being bogged down or picked off from afar. Plus you throw in jetpacks into the deal and Firefall is looking like a fun game. But with PlanetSide 2 on its way, will there be room for two big MMO/shooter titles? Have you guys already picked a game as the one for you, or is there enough room in your heart for both? |
| Battlefield multiplayer trailer and first look at Karkand Posted: 19 Oct 2011 02:00 PM PDT
The fact that it's not already October 25 has sent me into a fit of rage. Battlefield 3's latest mutliplayer trailer has calmed me down a little, at least to the degree that exploding vehicles and warfare can calm a person. If it doesn't succeed in calming you down, then I suggest freezing yourself for a wee while. The video gives us glimpses of each of the nine maps and a sneak peak of the Back to Karkand DLC. I'm looking forward to seeing how they've updated it in more detail soon. The game launches on October 25 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Damn, I'm getting angry again.
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| The DTOID Show: It's our Saints Row 3 EXTRAVAGAZMO! Posted: 19 Oct 2011 01:50 PM PDT Good news, everyone! The Destructoid Show is back for our 215th episode EXTRAVAGAZMO! It's a lot like a regular episode, except we add the word 'extravagazmo' at the end to make it sound interesting! On today's extravagazmo, you'll find a preview for Double Fine's new Kinect title Happy Action Theater, release dates for the PS Vita and Sony 3D display, hilarious Japanese Uncharted 3 commercials starring Harrison Ford, and a rather lukewarm announcement for EA's upcoming NFL Blitz reboot. You'll also be happy to know that the last half of today's episode is devoted entirely to the Saints Row 3 and all the wacky shit you'll be able to do in it. |
| PSN games and points no longer on Amazon Posted: 19 Oct 2011 01:30 PM PDT If you want to buy PSN games but don't want to entrust your credit card to Sony, there are a number of alternatives like Wal-Mart, Best Buy and GameStop. Amazon used to be on that list, but it would seem that all PSN content has been pulled from the Amazon market. Amazon did confirm that no new PSN content is up for sale right now, but didn't have much else to say. Amazon is my primary stop for gaming, so this is a little disheartening. There is no way I'm putting my credit card information in Sony's hands, and I like Amazon more than the alternatives. I guess for now anyone who wants to get some PSN points or games is going to have to go somewhere else. Hopefully this is only temporary but if not, booooo! What Happened To PSN Content On Amazon [PSN Store via Joystiq] |
| Meet a model by beating her NFS: The Run demo race time Posted: 19 Oct 2011 01:00 PM PDT EA Games and Sports Illustrated have come together to create a rather unusual competition for the recently released Need for Speed: The Run demo. You see, swimsuit model Chrissy Teigen, who actually stars in the game, has challenged all The Run demo players with beating her personal best time on the Desert Hill level. The Run's demo will only be available from October 18 to November 1. In order to actually enter, you'll need to tweet @NeedforSpeed with a "NFSTheRun_SI" hash-tag (minus the quote marks of course) along with a picture of your time. This new partnership expands beyond just the competition with both companies making a "Making of" DVD for the game which will be included in a special Sports Illustrated subscription offer along with a copy of The Run on either Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. The winner of the competition will meet Teigen at Las Vegas next February during Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit "launch week." You can check out official rules on Need for Speed's official website. |
| Integration: Bring on console domination Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:30 PM PDT [Last week, we asked you to comment on the meshing of videogame consoles with other forms of entertainment. This promoted blog for the Integration Bloggers Wanted topic was written by meteroscrap, who argues in favor of a consolidated home entertainment center. Want to see your own blog on the front page? Write a blog on the current topic: Online Passes. -- Jordan] Quick question: When's the last time you actually watched an episode of your favourite show on TV with that funny-shaped cable that goes into the back? You know, the thing shaped like the SNES and Genesis TV-connection thingy. I'm asking because I assume anyone technical enough to be on Destructoid and remain interested is probably technologically savvy enough that the idea of being bound to a weekly TV schedule feels a bit like using flint and steel to light a fire. Personally speaking, I can't stand having to schedule my life around a piece of entertainment I like. Ever since the concept of the DVD Season hit the market, I stopped watching my TV shows on the TV networks. Lost? I avoided talking about it and caught up in a marathon session once a season. Doctor Who? I wouldn't even know it existed without DVD boxed sets, and those are just the precursors to what we have now. I think that in this day and age, emerging services like Zune and iTunes are providing a serious boon to the entertainment industry by making entertainment viewable not only when people want it, but doing so at an affordable price. Which is a barrier I think will allow people to overcome a lot of inhibitions about specific forms of entertainment. The integration of consoles into the multimedia home entertainment center of today is fantastic. Having a couple small units on my entertainment centre which not only can play my games, but show me any movies or TV shows I'd care to watch is a fantastic convenience, beneficial not just because I can watch it when I want, but because doing so has never been more affordable, even for anime fans. |
| Unboxing Final Fantasy Type-0's LE soundtrack Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:00 PM PDT
While Final Fantasy Type-0 ('Reishiki' in Japan) still doesn't have an international release date, the game's due out next week in Japan. Alongside the game's release, Square Enix is also publishing two versions of the game's soundtrack: a standard edition in a normal jewel case and a limited edition housed in a special box that is featured in the above unboxing video. The limited edition soundtrack is included with the collector's edition of the game, but can also be purchased separately for 3,800 Yen compared to the standard's 3,300 Yen. |
| Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:30 AM PDT Though we don't tend to do full reviews for Xbox Live Indie Games, we attempt to highlight the ones worth playing. The perception is that this hub is primarily filled with bad to mediocre games, and while I think that's still very much the case today, there are gems hitting the scene every now and again. Wizorb is one such title. It's a brick breaker in the same vein as Arkanoid, but with a splash of RPG elements added in. From the moment you dive into the title screen, the menus, and then the actual playable content itself, you can tell much thought went into the game's overall design. It feels like a fully realized product, one that would have fit in on Xbox Live Arcade. Wizorb (Xbox Live Indie Games [reviewed], PC) As I said, the remarkable visuals and animations immediately stand out. They're a great introduction to Wizorb, which comes off feeling like a celebration of the 16-bit generation. Between the art, the attention to detail in the user interface and menus, and even the soundtrack, this is professional-grade quality. You play a Wizard who must earn money to rebuild a devastated town by completing levels. Interestingly, you're able to walk around and interact with citizens of the village in typical RPG fashion. While this part of Wizorb is charming -- and you're rewarded with perks for your generosity, so it's not a total waste of time -- it does ultimately feel unnecessary. Little of your in-game time will be spent messing around here. Instead, the in-level action takes the form of Breakout. Stages are broken up into 12 individual levels where the win condition is clearing all breakable blocks and dispatching enemies. You aren't simply using a paddle and ball, though -- you've got magic, too. There are a handful of spells, such as an upward fireball attack, the ability to manually place the ball on the field, and a gust of wind that can shift movement left or right, to name a few. As helpful as these are, you only have a limited amount of energy and can't always fall back on using them. Collectable potions and a few other methods do replenish your reserves, however. You can also come across bonus rooms, which have extra lives, coins, and other assorted goods floating around in breakable bubbles, in addition to item shops. An extended paddle and having three balls on the playing field at once are two examples of temporary upgrades you can buy. Each of the five stages ends in a boss encounter, which is always fun to see in this genre. They all basically come down to you chipping the enemy's health away while avoiding brushing up against any projectile attacks with your paddle. Straightforward, sure, but these fights are at least visually interesting. The one question that's bound to come up is that of paddle movement. All in all, it feels pretty tight. I like that the d-pad offers a slower, more deliberate speed than the analog stick, though I primarily stuck to using the latter because that's what I'm more comfortable with when it comes to the Xbox 360 gamepad. Wizorb is a joy to play early on, but a little past the halfway mark, levels become increasingly obsessed with either having many unbreakable obstacles or packing the screen full of blocks. In both cases, I often found myself destroying all but a few targets only to run out of lives and have to restart the entire level again. This becomes incredibly frustrating rather quickly, since the levels really aren't compelling enough to retain your interest a second time. Certainly not a third. This carries into another complaint I have, which is that there are perhaps too many levels per group. In order to unlock the next area in Wizorb, you must complete every single level of the stage. I took my sweet time going through the game, and even still, it felt like too much for any one sitting. Despite being overly challenging for my tastes near the end, Wizorb remains largely enjoyable and is worth checking out even if you have no intention of seeing everything on offer. If by chance you ran into a game-killing error at launch, that's since been fixed via update. Put this one on your to-play list. |
| EVE dev admits 'mistakes,' reduces workforce by 20% Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:00 AM PDT EVE Online has always been a game I'd admired from a distance rather than actually playing it. Icelandic developer CCP has done an amazing job and EVE's success always seemed to be well earned. Which makes all the recent troubles mystifying, but now the studio has spoken out, admitting it has bitten off more than it can chew. In a statement, CCP admits the mistake of "attempting too many things for a company our size" in developing expansions for EVE, the PlayStation 3 shooter Dust 514, and the MMO World of Darkness. "Rather than allowing this to persist, we have made the decision to sharpen our focus," namely cutting the global workforce by 20%, most of whom are working on World of Darkness. The title isn't cancelled but will carry on being developed with a reduced staff. Apparently, these cuts won't affect either EVE or Dust 514. The statement from CCP also says that EVE Online is still in "good health" although the developers admit some recent "mistakes and poor communication" that lead to the MMO's numbers dropping over the summer. Big shake-up at Eve Online dev CCP [Eurogamer] |
| 6 new King of Fighters XIII trailers will keep you happy Posted: 19 Oct 2011 10:30 AM PDT
If you're a The King of Fighters fan anticipating Atlus' latest venture into the long series, then you might want to sit down for this because the company has today shown us what loving your fan base really looks like in the form of six -- yes six -- gameplay trailers for The King of Fighters XIII. Each trailer showcases a different character along with some of their special moves. Personally, I'm liking Clark Still because of his love to pick up and throw people everywhere. The King of Fighters XIII will launch on November 22 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with retailers such as Amazon offering a 4-CD soundtrack as a pre-order bonus.
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| Review: Deus Ex: Human Revolution - The Missing Link Posted: 19 Oct 2011 10:00 AM PDT The first real piece of DLC has been released for the excellent Deus Ex: Human Revolution -- weapons and skins don't count -- and at a bit of a hefty price. Like Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker, The Missing Link adds some new action that fits into the game's universe, while offering you a lot of what you've seen before. The question most fans will ask themselves, however, is whether or not it is good enough. Deus Ex: Human Revolution - The Missing Link (Xbox 360 [Reviewed], PlayStation 3, PC) The Missing Link expands upon Human Revolution's story at a point where it seemed like nothing was actually missed, let alone a link. As Adam Jensen departs Heng Sha in a cryostasis chamber on board a freighter, the original game simply had him wake up at his planned destination some time later. In The Missing Link, however, Jensen is rudely awakened on board the Belltower cargo ship he hitched a ride on, finding himself in a bit of a predicament without access to his augmentation upgrades and weapons. Rather than having to have a save game at the ready to access the DLC, you simply start it from the main menu's Downloadable Content section. This makes it feel slightly disconnected from the main story, but it's a better solution than having to replay the entire game up to a certain point just because you didn't have dozens of save games. I won't go into the story too much, as part of the fun in Deus Ex is piecing together the overarching storyline, but on the whole The Missing Link fits nicely into the main game's narrative without actually adding anything you can't live without. There are more than a few hints at the world of Human Revolution and the original Deus Ex for the fans that care, but then again, if you played Deus Ex then you already kind of knew how it all ends up anyway. Suffice it to say that some key names make an appearance while skulking in the shadows and hacking computers like a boss. Story and narrative fun aside, The Missing Link focuses on the cargo ship you were a stowaway on in the main game, and the Belltower base the ship is heading towards. Of course, nothing is as it really seems and twists and turns have you corkscrewing your way through about 5-6 hours of gameplay. There's a nice mix of stealth and optional combat to fit the style you feel most comfortable with, so fans will feel right at home. You will be able to respec Jensen quickly enough after starting, which gives you a chance to try some new avenues of approach without having to spend 15 hours of the original game. An achievement or trophy is bestowed upon the player who chooses to go through all of it without ever upgrading an augmentation or using a weapon or explosive. Being a whore for these virtual points, I played through it this way and it was more than doable. If you played Human Revolution by sneaking and taking down soldier after soldier, you'll have little trouble adapting to the new environments. Although there is no boss fight of the kind you've seen in the main game, there is a pretty tense final confrontation that will probably get you killed a couple of times if you're going with the no-upgrade stealth route. It's not super hard, but challenging enough to keep you on edge -- just like most of The Missing Link. Because The Missing Link acts as a standalone chapter that takes place within Human Revolution's existing story, any of the choice and consequence you are offered suffers as a result. Some minor decisions early on may give you small benefits later on in the DLC, but the big choices you can make don't make you feel much at all; you already know none of it actually changes anything in the bigger story you've already played and finished. It also means that none of the weapon upgrades, credits, or Praxis kits you'll find impact the main game, and neither does the game really explain why Jensen is suddenly without the gained resources when he arrives in the story after the DLC ends and the main game picks up. To be fair, it would've been really hard to explain how Jensen loses his upgrades and weapons, respecs his augmentations, gains XP, and suddenly appears after The Missing Link's events with the same tools and skills he had before. With the majority of Jensen's adventures being located in the rather large secret Belltower facility, there is some inevitable backtracking. On the upside, there are no loading screens as you go up and down the different levels of the sprawling base. On the downside, there are a couple of security scan sequences to mask the loading of different areas, and sometimes the prospect of going through yet another scan when you know you're going to have to deal with it can elicit a few sighs and grunts. As a standalone chapter, though, it's a solid one. The Missing Link is just one really long side-quest, but it's a good one even though I'll be hard pressed to remember much of it in a few months time, or play it again any time soon. The story and characters are good enough from the spoiled perspective of a Human Revolution player, but don't offer anything that goes beyond the main game's quality. It does offer a good chunk of more Deus Ex: Human Revolution, with some fan service hidden in plain sight here and there, but as DLC goes it's not as fantastic as the experience Lair of the Shadow Broker gave to fans of Mass Effect. And, you know, Shadow Broker and BioShock 2: Minerva's Den weren't $15. Still, this piece of DLC offers a good amount of content for its price, about a fifth to a quarter of Deus Ex: Human Revolution's 20-25 hour playtime for a fourth of the (original) price. The Missing Link is a well-produced piece of DLC with a level of quality that fits right in with the main game both in terms of quality and atmosphere. It's just more Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and there's nothing really wrong with that since the original game was fantastic. If you want more Deus Ex, The Missing Link delivers in spades but won't blow you away. Yet it doesn't give you any truly orgasmic story or gameplay experiences; it's just more of the same quality game you already played. For more of the same, whether it's a really long extra chapter or not, $15 is a bit on the high side if you ask me, and well above the instant-buy threshold I maintain for myself. Whether or not the extra $5 is going to kill you or not, as a fan you're still going to enjoy what The Missing Link gives you. How could you not? It's more Deus Ex! |
| EEDAR: 51% of gamers bought DLC this past year Posted: 19 Oct 2011 09:45 AM PDT Wow. I didn't know this DLC thing was catching on. I knew that everyone was making DLC, but I thought we were all just letting it float by like trash in a river. Oh, did I say that out loud? I'm kidding! Kind of. There's some good DLC content out there. There's more of it and there's better stuff out there than ever before, and for the first time the majority of gamers have jumped on the bandwagon. EEDAR's latest report, Deconstructing Downloadable Content, says that 51 percent of gamers pulled down some kind of downloadable content this past year, up from 40 percent the year before. Someone's doing something right on the downloadable front! EEDAR estimates that DLC will generate $875 million in 2011 and will exceed $1 billion next year in North America. So who's not buying DLC? The 49 percent that haven't joined in the downloadable fun say that privacy is a major concerned. They also don't like that you can't return DLC or try it out with a demo. Below the jump you'll find a breakdown of who did and didn't buy DLC last year. Where do you stand on DLC? \ |
| Dragon Quest X has a bunch of new screenshots Posted: 19 Oct 2011 09:30 AM PDT Here is a bunch of screens for Square Enix's kinda-MMO-but-not-really Dragon Quest X. For some reason, Square has a habit of putting out small, poor quality images, so expect it to look a bit better than these shots suggest. I am quite fond of Dragon Quest, but this permaconnection thing has thrown me for a loop. I'll probably check it out for curiosity's sake though, if only for the novelty of having an always-on connection for a Wii game of all things. |
| Get your science on with Mercury Hg Posted: 19 Oct 2011 09:15 AM PDT
A new installment of the Mercury franchise has arrived for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. Mercury Hg is 400 Microsoft Points and $4.99 on PSN, will have 60 levels of new puzzles, as well as an additional 60 levels between two DLC packs: Heavy Elements and Rare Earth Elements. Each DLC pack will cost $2.99 on PSN or 240 MS Points and will contain 30 levels. Heavy Elements is available now, while Rare Earth Elements will be up on November 29th for PSN and November 30th for XBLA. If, like me, you haven't had a chance to play a Mercury game yet, it would seem that now is your chance. And since it is on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, almost everyone can enjoy it. I might go with the Xbox 360 version for this game, though, since the PS3 one supports Sixaxis controls and I'm not sure how well that would work. |
| DCUO: Diary of a Green Lantern Corps reservist part II Posted: 19 Oct 2011 09:00 AM PDT When last we saw Green Lantern reservist Zentarim the Space Cowboy, he was brooding about crime and preparing to kick evil in the face and I was preparing for DC Universe Online's free-to-play service to go live. Sadly, the tentative date of October 19 has arrived, yet still no word from SOE. So it looks like you'll have to hold off on your free adventures in Metropolis and Gotham. But fear not, our cosmic hero is still fighting the good fight on your behalf. He's been gallivanting in space, introducing demons to chainsaws and making inappropriate remarks about Wonder Woman's rear. After a string of victories and more press than that media darling -- Superman, our emerald champion was well on his way to becoming the face of heroism. So when Queen Bee, ally of Braniac and supreme pest, built a HIVE base on the Moon to mine for exobytes (super power giving nanites), Zentarim was tasked with halting her plans. Along with a trusty crew of JLA hopefuls, our hero fought giants, terrorists and blew up a space ship, yet again. But just as the team was about to reach Queen Bee herself, they were thwarted by a hero's worst nightmare. A door that wouldn't open. I have now attempted the HIVE Moon Base Alert three times with Zentarim and I've yet to complete it. After clearing the second to last room, the door to the boss is meant to open. Sadly, it doesn't. Now, I consider myself fairly forgiving when it comes to bugs in MMOs. These games are huge and constantly evolving, things will slip through the cracks. However, there's no way to know that this particular instance is bugged until you reach the very end. When it happened the first time I thought it was a one-off and tried again, when that failed I tried it a third time because I'm an idiot. Mentioning it on the launcher or in game would go a long way towards preventing players from wasting their time. That is the most glaring bug I've encountered so far, but there are many other smaller ones which have made my experience less enjoyable. Especially when many of these bugs were present at launch. There's graphics issues in the inventory screen with characters not showing up properly, sound errors, broken quests, exploits that have existed since day one, a broken in-game mail system and whole plethora of other issues. Few of them are progress halting, but as they mount up they are starting to piss me off quite a bit. On top of that, there are other issues which, while not being bugs, are just as problematic. Things get thrown around a lot in DCUO and they usually end up exploding. When cars and barrels are being tossed left and right, luck plays more of a role than skill when attempting to avoid getting caught in the blast. Dodging is a pain in the arse. It's an action game, yet dodging is as slow and unresponsive as a tractor driven by a drunk. With stuns, roots and explosions going on all the time it feels more like a crowd control game than an action game. To make matters worse dodging uses up power, which is what you use for abilities, there's no separate pool for it. Zentarim was rapidly becoming the go-to guy for when shit hit the fan. It probably helped that he could literally summon a giant fan to blow that shit back. He saved the world from a demonic god, became the third wheel on a bromantic date between Green Arrow and Green Lantern, gave Sinestro something to be afraid of and rescued Superman on two separate occasions. When he rescued The Man of Steel for the second time he had to infiltrate the heart of the enemy, the foreboding Hall of Doom. After mopping the floor with mechanical menace Metallo and then Cheetah (like Catwoman but for furries) he finally confronted Lex Luthor. The bald super genius was lording it over his captured Kryptonian nemesis and didn't anticipate a bright green helicopter shooting his villainous ass. That's right, a helicopter. With that victory, Zentarim was finally invited to become a full member of the JLA. By level 15 things had started to get a bit stale. Each mission tends to be broken up into predictable phases, the first few being a mix of "defeat these guys" or "interact with these objects." The final phase is the most interesting as you enter an instance to defeat that mission's boss. There tends to be a bit more story and focused action, and the boss battles themselves are occasionally inventive. When I had to rescue Wonder Girl from Giganta, I had to destroy some crystals to break a spell. By touching a crystal I was thrown back only to bounce into another one. It was like a life sized pinball game, silly, but fun. The road to level 30 is a fairly short one. It's been described by some players as an extended tutorial which prepares people for the bulk of the game, the end-game content. But I find that to be disingenuous. The game already has an unskippable tutorial. Nobody should have to get through hours and hours of tutorials to get to the meat of a game. Because the leveling process is so short, anyone who has done it before is likely to rush through it. That leaves earlier missions rather empty. So other players, seeing how empty that part of the game is, either rush to 30 as well, or simply stop playing. Most of the pre-30 content is solo content, though. Other than the Alerts which you queue for or the occasional group boss you can do it all on your own, with no difficulty whatsoever. Considering how quiet the game is, that's a boon. However, I can't help but think that if the game encouraged people to group up more before 30 it would be a lot more lively. As a single player game DCUO is simply not very good. With his new position as full member of the JLA, Zentarim knew he had to up his game. No more flirting with Amazonian broads, no more bringing up all those times he saved Superman. It was time to get serious. Super serious. He clocked in hours on the VR combat simulator, learning his most famous opponents' and allies' skills, and traveled throughout the world and even beyond it, fighting new villains wherever they appeared. His appointment to the JLA didn't mean he had run out of things to learn. With every battle he grew more skilled and better equipped. The most important skill he learned was patience. Since many of his allies were barely functioning individuals, he learned to forgive them for their butchering of the English language and barely intelligible insults. I finally got some PvP in. About bloody time. PvP in DCUO is split into three modes -- Legends, Arena and open world. The Legends mode tends to be the one with the shorter queue and thus is the one I've had the most experience in, which is unfortunate because it's a novelty at best. The idea is that you take on the role of a recognizable villain or hero; you can play as either, regardless of what side you are on. Players start off with Harley Quinn for villains and Robin for heroes. By competing in the matches you earn points that can be spent on unlocking more characters or exchanged for other points for gear and items. While it can be an amusing time waster, it's not nearly as fulfilling as using your own character. There are three arenas in Legends; two are King of the Hill and the other is a Capture and Hold mode. Arena allows you to use your own character and pits you against a team of villains in a variety of settings, from Australia to the Moon and even Superman's Fortress of Solitude. Unlike Legends there's also a deathmatch and capture the flag mode. So far I've really enjoyed the Arena PvP, but I haven't done particularly well. Technically, you can participate quite early on. The only problem is that the queues are always empty. I wish I was exaggerating. In the three weeks I've been playing, my first Arena match was only a few days ago. Once again, the rush to 30 gets in the way of me enjoying the game. While people still queue for Legends they ignore Arena until they are max level. Since I'm not fond of Legends, I had very few points I could trade for other points to purchase PvP gear. So I've been consistently getting my arse kicked. I have to be incredibly careful since anyone with half-decent PvP gear can tear me a new one in a couple of seconds. Open world PvP is pretty self explanatory. It's obviously a lot more active on the PvP server -- I've yet to engage in any of it on my PvE server. On the rare occasions I actually see another person in Metropolis or Gotham, they are usually a hero. If they are of a more villainous persuasion they don't seem to be affected by my threats and posturing. Again, the issue of low server population and lack of people under 30 rears it's ugly head. I'm sensing a trend here. Upon hitting 30 heroes and villains can participate in some more goal orientated PvP, tied to missions. I tend to find these sorts of thing more entertaining when they have context. Pumped, psyched, generally more confident, Zentarim now faces his toughest challenges yet. All his hard work and tireless pursuit of justice have paid off. He's ready to face even more dangerous opponents, perhaps even Braniac itself. No doubt there will be another chance to save Superman again, too. I swear, that guy needs rescuing more than Jimmy Olsen. Next Issue -- Hard Alerts which will probably hurt, Raids and f2p shenanigans (hurry up SOE!) |
| New trailer for Hunting Party has the whole family kill Posted: 19 Oct 2011 08:45 AM PDT
Activision seems to have taken a strange turn with upcoming Kinect hunting game Cabela's Big Game Hunter: Hunting Party, as evidenced by its latest trailer, by marketing the game as one that the whole family can play together. Hunting Party marks the first Big Game Hunter title for Kinect and is unsurprisingly taking a more arcade, on-rails approach. It'll include a "Top Shot Sport" controller that's shaped like a gun and works with Kinect. Players are to use body movements such as jumping, dodging and kicking to do things like avoiding bear attacks, getting over blocked paths or as the video shows, break apart a fallen tree with a single kick. We've also got some more screenshots which just happen to include the "KICK THE TREE" part. So if you're into shooting animals with the whole family, Hunting Party might be one to keep on your radar. It's coming out on November 1 for $69.99. |
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