New Games |
- The quick-time event to end all others
- Lots of NVIDIA toys to play with at BlizzCon
- GUNNAR Optiks' Contest: Win unreleased gaming eyewear
- The Hidden: Use your 3DS to bust ghosts
- Commandos, SOTS & GTA collections are dirt cheap on Steam
- Razer peripherals to get cloud support with Synapse 2.0
- Review: Mahjong Cub3d
- Second Blacklight: Retribution dev diary talks tech
- Nintendo DLC: Double Dragon, DreamWorks shorts, and more
- Taking to the sky in Choplifter HD
- Epic and overlooked - Avadon: The Black Fortress
- Exclusive: War of the Worlds trailer gives me the chills
- Uncharted 3 multiplayer Plays, Creates and Shares
- Review: Professor Layton and the Last Specter
- Touch My Katamari will be a day-one PlayStation Vita game
- Moxie Girlz for DS is a thing that's out next week
- Boomerang action in Super Mario 3D Land
- It Came from Japan! Clock Tower
- Review: Kinectimals: Now With Bears
| The quick-time event to end all others Posted: 20 Oct 2011 04:00 PM PDT This feel-good moment of the day is brought to you by Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, which features one of the best QTEs I've had the pleasure of seeing. Spider-Man arguably still holds the top spot, but this is some damn fine interactive entertainment. If only all of life's problems could be fixed with a raise of the fist. This Is It. This Is The Greatest QTE. [GameSetWatch] |
| Lots of NVIDIA toys to play with at BlizzCon Posted: 20 Oct 2011 03:00 PM PDT NVIDIA has shared a little of what's in store for BlizzCon this year. Just about everywhere you look at the convention, you'll find GeForce GTX-equipped PCs powering all the Blizzard games you love such as World of Warcraft and StarCraft II. NVIDIA has provided over 1,000 cards to help power both the NVIDIA booth, the GeForce LAN, and the demo systems that will cover the show floor. In addition to providing video game demos, NVIDIA also plans on hosting hands-on workshops to teach attendees how to optimize the game settings and rigs to get the best performance out of their machines. Here are a few of the activities on the schedule:
It's times like this when I really wish I lived in California so I could attend BlizzCon! If you're like me and can't go, you can keep up with the happenings via iTunes or the Android Market on your phone or mobile device. If you'd like to see the complete schedule of NVIDIA events at BlizzCon, visit the company's BlizzCon page here. |
| GUNNAR Optiks' Contest: Win unreleased gaming eyewear Posted: 20 Oct 2011 02:30 PM PDT By now, you've surely heard about GUNNAR, the eyewear company that specializes in glasses that increase contrast and reduce eye fatigue. I skeptically picked up a pair at PAX and I am happy to report that they are actually the real deal: it takes a little getting used to the slight curvature but the eyestrain relief becomes increasingly apparent with regular use. I definitely recommend them to anyone who lives in front of a monitor all day, whether you're a wannabe pro gamer or just a giant nerd like me. If you missed them at PAX they're now available at Best Buy. Win yours right now: GUNNAR is looking for a new style name for an upcoming, unreleased design. You can check out their existing product line here. Your job is to dream up the best name ever and suggest it in the comments below. All ages are eligible to win, and multiple entries per person may be submitted. Three winners will receive one of the unreleased holiday colors pictured above, and one lucky winner will win the new GUNNAR SteelSeries Desmo design before you can buy it! Rules: Please limit one awesome idea per comment. Winners will be selected by a nefarious panel of Dtoid editors and GUNNAR staff on October 27th. DESTRUCTOID and GUNNAR are not responsible for any medical injuries caused to dudes with giant potato heads. The contest is open to all territories worldwide. Prizes are for non-prescription lenses (though you can take the frames to Carl-Zeiss to modify them if you'd like). See full contest rules below. Good luck! |
| The Hidden: Use your 3DS to bust ghosts Posted: 20 Oct 2011 02:00 PM PDT
There have been some forays into the realm of augmented reality gaming recently as technology has gotten more advanced. The Hidden is the latest attempt at AR integration and uses the 3DS' cameras to hunt down and exterminate ghosts. In order to track down all the ghosts and unlock all the levels, players will be required to travel around town, so no chilling out on your couch scanning the living room day after day. My initial reaction to this game, before I saw the trailer, was excitement. The idea of a horror game that uses AR is fantastic. Then I saw the trailer and while it doesn't look like the worst 3DS title, I was hoping for something that might actually give me a fright. Like Fatal Frame. |
| Commandos, SOTS & GTA collections are dirt cheap on Steam Posted: 20 Oct 2011 01:30 PM PDT I played Vice City, San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto IV on the console from the comfort of my couch, and never saw the point of buying them again when the PC versions were released later on. Steam sales came and went, but I could always resist. But for $12.49/€9.99, I'll just bite to have the Grand Theft Auto collection at the ready. That's GTAs one to four, Vice City, San Andreas and Episodes of Liberty City for dirt cheap and ready to mod, valid until 10 a.m. PDT next Monday. A shorter-term deal is the Steam Commandos Collection, which includes Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines, the expansion Beyond the Battlefield Call of Duty, Commandos 2: Men of Courage, and Commandos 3: Destination Berlin. Valid until 10 a.m. PDT tomorrow, that pack will cost you $7.49/€6.99 for a lot of "AMERIKANER!", "ALARM ALARM!" and "EIN VERLETZEN!" Finally there's the Sword of the Stars Collection, collecting the main game and a bunch of expansions for $5/€5 until October 28. I could never get into SOTS (or Sins of a Solar Empire for that matter) so I'll just wait patiently for Galactic Civilizations III, which will be an infinitely better and completely unrelated game. [Thanks, guy from IRC!] |
| Razer peripherals to get cloud support with Synapse 2.0 Posted: 20 Oct 2011 01:00 PM PDT With Synapse 2.0, Razer is shifting away from using on-board memory to store customized peripheral settings in favor of cloud support. The application will see a widespread release later this year, but for now, a closed beta is taking place. Being able to move your gaming peripherals to multiple computers and not having to tinker with settings sounds nice, though it obviously won't be a relevant feature for everyone. For those seeking speed and ease of use, Synapse 2.0 also "automatically downloads drivers, game add-ons, and firmware updates." Did anyone else go to the site and make the clouds scroll back and forth really quickly? |
| Posted: 20 Oct 2011 12:30 PM PDT Wait! Where are you going? Portable mahjong games aren't going to hold up to all the high profile fall and holiday releases that are coming out, especially with this year's huge line-up. But what if I told you that this particular mahjong game was in 3D, and that it turned the classic time waster on its head with 3D controls? Still no? Fair enough. Hey, I think it's cool. It may not be your Call of the Battlefield: Revelations, but it's a good time for your 3DS, especially for puzzle game fans. Mahjong Cub3d (Nintendo 3DS) Classic mahjong has you matching tiles to remove them from a pile, two by two, with the goal of taking them all down without breaking the age old rules of removal. You've played this before on a phone or on an old Windows PC, I'm sure. In Mahjong Cub3d, you're still matching tiles to remove them from the game board, except this time it's not really a board, but more of a floating shape in 3D space. Yes, it sounds strange, but stick with me here. Floating mahjong in 3D sounds like something that wouldn't work, but it really does. It works well enough that my first play session, which I only intended to be a quick introduction, lasted about 2 hours. I ended up taking my 3DS to bed and played until I got sleepy. The game slowly eases you into its 3D Cube Mode with some simple puzzles. You'll match tiles, which are now actually little cubes, on or in some basic shapes, like larger cubes and other geometric designs. Like in classic mahjong, you'll pick from any of the available 'free' tiles to match them to other ones. In this mode you're working against a countdown timer, but the basic shapes of the mode's alpha stages are pretty easy. They're easy enough that they'll let you get used to rotating and manipulating the shapes. You'll turn these shapes in any direction by holding down either the L or R button and pushing a direction on the circle pad, while the d-pad lets you zoom in and out. Tile selection is done with the circle pad and it works surprisingly well. I assumed that trying to select a little tile among a bunch of others in 3D would be troublesome, but somehow they made it work. When you get good at the alpha level of puzzles, beta steps it up a bit, and then it gets nuts with complexity from there. Worry not, as the game slowly eases you into it by gradually increasing the difficulty with each puzzle. As you complete puzzles you'll unlock additional ones. I've been playing Mahjong Cub3d almost non-stop since I received a review copy, but it feels like I'm nowhere near seeing all of the available puzzles. In classic mahjong, if a tile is buried under another, you cannot remove it. This rule is still in play in Mahjong Cub3d's Cube Mode, but being able to freely rotate the game's board in any direction forces you to think a bit harder about what tiles to remove. You'll also have to rotate the game board to see its undersides, sometimes even down inside a shape, to see the tile types. You'll have to keep your eyes open and stay alert so that you can match tiles from all angles. The 3D doesn't make for a hard game, mind you. It just increases the challenge so that it never becomes mindless. They literally took this time-wasting standard to the next dimension. There is a classic, non-3D mahjong mode included, but it's not very good. The main problem lies with the tile selection method, which is done with the analog pad. I was driven to near insanity in less than five minutes trying to select the little tiles in this mode, and the zoom in/out controls do not help at all. Worse, the angle that the board is presented at is tilted back just enough to be fully frustrating; good luck trying to see some of the lower level back tiles behind a large pile. The final kick in the eye is the too-large countdown timer, which moves so fast that it makes you nervous and unable to concentrate. I truly hope that gamers try the perfectly fine 3D mode before trying this standard version, as it seems tacked on and rough. My only other gripe is on the music. It's bad. Like, volume switch to minimum at all times bad. Distracting and regular bleeps and cymbal crashes are not a great idea for a game that requires concentration. I can't give you much more here: Mahjong Cub3d is simply mahjong in fully rotatable 3D. I can tell you that it's easy to get into and control, and that it seems to have this gravitational pull on me as a puzzle game fan. I've always liked mahjong, and this 3D twist on the classic formula makes it even more enjoyable and challenging. |
| Second Blacklight: Retribution dev diary talks tech Posted: 20 Oct 2011 12:00 PM PDT
It's been a little while since the last Blacklight: Retribution developer diary video was released. Today, the team is back, and still sounding as excited as ever in a new installment. They discuss not only the technology behind the game, but also the tech inside the world. One of the first things I took away from the original teaser video was how much the style reminded me of Ghost in the Shell. The developers never make any direct statement about influence when they talk about going for a "Neo-Tokyo" look. I have my suspicion, though, that some of that type of media helped influence the look, which is not a bad thing by any means as the game footage shown so far looks great. That may also be in part to the other side of the graphics that they tote in the video, the fidelity. I never considered the first game, Tango Down, to be a bad-looking one. That said, it's nice to see the sequel is shaping up to look better. I just hope that the final product plays as well. The closed beta for Blacklight: Retribution begins on November 10, and you can register for it on the Blacklight website if interested. |
| Nintendo DLC: Double Dragon, DreamWorks shorts, and more Posted: 20 Oct 2011 11:30 AM PDT What's new on the digital distribution front for Nintendo platforms? Sadly, not a whole lot. Nintendo eShop (3DS)
WiiWare
I can always count on Double Dragon to brighten up my day. Not because I'm particularly fond of the game itself -- certainly not to the point where I'd buy the Game Boy version for use on 3DS -- but it is responsible for the character Abobo. Heh, "Abobo." Always cracks me up. |
| Taking to the sky in Choplifter HD Posted: 20 Oct 2011 11:15 AM PDT Choplifter! is something of a lost classic. The original 1982 game for the Apple II wound up ported to every console or computer that would have it and is one of the few games to actually start on the home computer, before seeing a port for the arcades. Despite that success and a pair of sequels in the early 90's, it's a title that often elicits confused stares from people when I mention it. Maybe some of that confusion will fade when Choplifter HD arrives, bringing with it an experience that's true to its retro roots. Choplifter HD (Xbox 360 [Previewed], PS3, PC) In the original Choplifter!, you piloted a rescue chopper sent into a war zone to rescue prisoners. The strategy was always to get in, clear the area of enemies and then load as many people as you could cram into your helicopter to drag back to your base before moving on to the next building full of soldiers. And Choplifter HD is no different in this respect, but provides a variety of scenarios (30 in all) that will see you piloting from the tundra to the desert and everything in between. But, no matter where you are, the goal is to rescue people. Every stage is laid out on a 2D plane and a rough "map" at the top shows your position and the locations of people who need your assistance. You can only fit so many in the helicopter and have a limited amount of fuel, so nearly every stage will require more than one trip through. Some of the people who need saving require medical attention and have a limited time to make it to the base before expiring, adding a little further pressure. So Choplifter HD becomes something of a resource game. With a rough idea of how many people are waiting at each location, you can formulate a plan of attack that keeps you fueled and efficiently moves everybody from where they are to where they need to be. And it would work perfectly if it weren't for all those damned bonus objectives, such as the news reporter who always seems to be on the scene. You can scoop up some other people in need of rescue besides your required targets, practically a necessity for achieving a high ranking in a stage, but that's going to throw off your entire strategy. You know what else is going to put a monkey wrench in things? All those damned enemies. Men armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades dot the landscape, anti-aircraft guns pepper the sky with explosives and persistent jeeps keep the pressure on. Some stages even feature zombies who'll grab on to your chopper if given the chance and have to be shaken off. The combat is an excellent example of how inXile has effectively modernized the mechanics of Choplifter for this new game. Your chopper can face left, right or forward, just as in the original. Whereas facing forward was primarily used for destroying tanks directly below you in the past, now it allows you to attack enemies in the foreground. You'll constantly be shifting from one direction to the next to keep up with all the firing, easily done with the click of a button, and it makes an already busy game positively frantic. It also makes for a really difficult game. Once the elements start piling up and more enemy types become unlocked, you're the one who's probably in more desperate need of rescue. Armed only with a machine gun (which overheats pretty quickly) and a complement of missiles, sometimes the best thing to do is simply charge through as quickly as you can. To help with that and other dodging, the chopper features a booster that can give you a necessary burst of speed but drains fuel quickly. Your choppers also improve over time, receiving upgrades as you earn success in levels. Every stage awards you a ranking of one to five stars based on your performance and those stars unlock new choppers and add improvements to those you've already unlocked. The craft are pretty different from what I experienced in my preview and in more than just base statistics. The Sparrow, for example, is the first craft you pilot and offers almost no protection for the people you rescue as they sit exposed on the skids, so you have to be careful about the hits you take or they're going to die in transit. The gang at inXile should be pretty proud of themselves. From the very beginning, this feels like a logical extension of Dan Gorlin's original Choplifter! into the modern age. It may have flashy HD graphics and be full of cool explosions, but it's still Choplifter and that's a good thing. Make sure you check it out when it releases this holiday season on PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade and Steam.
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| Epic and overlooked - Avadon: The Black Fortress Posted: 20 Oct 2011 11:00 AM PDT The first day of a new job can be a daunting experience. One has to get their bearings, learn their co-workers names, figure out their role, kill or capture escaped prisoners, topple governments or placate an arrogant young dragon who sells his services for gold. If your new job is being the latest Hand of Avadon, medival fantasy's answer to the CIA, that is. Avadon: The Black Fortress is the latest RPG to come from Jeff Vogel and Spiderweb Software, the unsung heroes of classic RPGs in this age of cinematic spectacle. Like all of Spiderweb's games, Avadon was released first on Mac, way back in February. It eventually found it's way onto PC in May and iPad in June. You could be forgiven for missing it, though. People tend to find out about Vogel's RPGs through word of mouth and even then it's hard to see what the fuss is about. But trust me, the fuss is warranted. You play the newest Hand of Avadon, a position of power and responsibility. You aren't tasked with saving the world, your job is to maintain the status quo. Your imposing master, Redbeard, is the most powerful man in the continent of Lyneas. With his army of agents, powerful magic and keen mind, he keeps the Pact (a coalition of nations) from falling apart. This isn't a conventional RPG. You aren't the hero, the Hands are extensions of Redbeard's will. Your first mission is to put the fortress dungeons back in order after a break out attempt. Straight away it is clear that Redbeard is merciless and manipulative, as you see the state of some of his prisoners -- especially the last man that tried to assassinate him. The relationship between Avadon and the realms it protects is one of the most interesting facets of the game. Without Avadon's protection the five nations would be at war with each other and the ravenous wolves that surround the alliance, such as barbarian hordes and powerful empires. But the last thing anyone wants to do is draw Redbeard's gaze. A large ginger chap, who doesn't seem to age, has survived countless assassination attempts and strong arms every nation in the Pact into following his rules is probably worth fearing. Even powerful creatures, like dragons, respect and fear Avadon. These creatures are part of the Pact, but still remember the age where they were able to party and devour towns to their hearts' content. Zhethron, the first dragon you meet, is one of the most memorable characters in the game. In exchange for his allegiance he is given freedom and his cave and horde are protected. He has a haughty, mercenary personality and despite his might he'd rather wait for humans to sort out his problems rather than lifting a claw, himself. He's a young dragon, delightfully arrogant and rather powerful. But really he comes across as impotent. Another agent of Avadon acts as his caretaker and the two of them bicker like a married couple, in the end Zhethron always loses. He's lazy, bored and trapped by his deal with your master. Even with all his power and wealth he's as much a prisoner as the inmates you capture and kill in your first mission. The whole game takes place in a prison, of sorts. The nations of the Pact have given up a great deal of their freedom to ensure the alliance's stability, yet Avadon really doesn't have any interest in helping them. Of course, you don't have to be a jailor. You can still play the hero is that's you thing. But it's much more fun to be a wee bit shifty. You aren't stuck with being Redbeard's lapdog. There are plenty of opportunities to undermine your boss and you can even try to destroy Avadon from the inside. Or you can simply be a bit corrupt. Sometimes it seems like RPG developers don't have the confidence to tell a story that doesn't have some generic, evil threat looming over everything that you -- as the hero -- have to defeat. But Spiderweb Software has crafted a game that's a lot more ambitious than your run of the mill fantasy RPG. You can work for Redbeard or betray him, you're not necessarily taking a good or evil route and you're rarely even sure who your enemies are. The trope of NPCs standing about just waiting to ask for the heroes aid is thankfully not all that present, either. The people of Lyneus fear and often mistrust representatives of Avadon, they also expect to have to pay large sums of money for a Hand's aid. While there are plenty of quests and lots of useless people needing help it always feels like you are on the job and working towards a larger goal, rather than just going about randomly helping people like some gormless hero. Everyone knows that Hands have access to places that few others do and sometimes approach them with offers of gold for this nik nak or that tome. The Hands are kept on long leashes, they can pretty much do what they want as long as it doesn't get in the way of Redbeard's plans. While you get equipment and rewards from your superiors, Hands are expected to find more creative ways to get money and finance their missions. It really does feel like you are working for the CIA or some other shady contemporary agency. Time for a confession -- I kept calling my shadowwalker Michael Thorton. He deserved a chance to be in a good game. As this is the first in a planned trilogy, there's a significant amount of world building going on and it pays off. It never feels like the massive amount of lore gets in the way of advancing the plot, books are scattered throughout the game world and upon being read the information is saved for future browsing. You can stop and soak up Lynaeus's history whenever you want. It's certainly worthy of your attention. Despite seeming like generic fantasy fare on the surface, Lynaeus is a complex, well realized land, with plenty of conflict to drive the game forward. It's still possible to enjoy the experience without going too deep into the lore, however. The various characters found in towns and and elsewhere do and excellent job of humanizing this intrigue ridden realm, as well as giving the player plenty of context without bogging them down in details.Your two companions (selected from four other Hands) help with this, too. They are a diverse bunch and all have their own interesting reasons for joining Avadon and following you. They come from all over Lyneaus and help fill in gaps in your knowledge with tales of their own lands and travels. There's a vast amount of dialogue. But like other text heavy RPGs, such as Planescape: Torment, the quality of the writing means that you won't tire of it. On the surface, Avadon: The Black Fortress is not an inviting game. The huge labyrinthine dungeons and simple character models evoke early 90s RPGs, the turn-based combat and isometric view does nothing to persuade you that you haven't traveled back in time. Your adventure is a pretty silent affair, too. There's almost no music and there's certainly no voice acting. But the game doesn't feel like it's missing any of those things, it's all window dressing to try to immerse players in the world, window dressing that Avadon doesn't need. Realistic animation, flashy spell effects, cinematic cut scenes and stirring scores are all splendid, but not necessary. Some of the greatest adventures are just words on a page, your imagination fills everything else in. With writing as good as Avadon's, the gaudiness of modern RPGs would just get in the way. That's not to say that some modern conventions haven't found their way into the game, though. It is a far simpler and dare I say, streamlined, game compared to Vogel's previous titles like the Geneforge and Avernum series. There are four classes to choose from -- Blademaster, Shadowwalker, Shaman and Sorceress. Each has three skill trees and three specialisation options. It's all fairly simple and self explanatory, but each class distinguishes itself even if they don't break any molds. While many modern RPGs have moved away from turn based combat, Avadon sticks to its traditional roots. However, compromises do seem to have been made to speed up the pacing. The Hand's three man team races around the battlefield with unbelievable haste and their foes are no slouches either -- at least not in the speed department. Other than some bosses, enemies don't pose much of a challenge. Combat is not the game's strong point, but battles are usually over as quickly as they are in many action RPGs and it breaks up the story and exploration very well. Avadon is a hefty game, especially compared to other indie RPGs which tend to be simple action driven dungeon crawlers. It's around a thirty hour experience and the locales and dungeons are huge and sprawling. Exploration makes up a big part of the game and this is real exploration, not making sure you look in every barrel and behind every building -- although you should still do that -- or exploring the general vicinity of a quest area. This is about heading off into the unknown just because you feel like it, not because you were told to. Inevitably some people will still be put off by the presentation. But if you can look past that, you'll find Avadon: The Black Fortress to be one of the most enjoyable and surprising RPGs of the year, even if barely anyone knows it. It's also a fantastic introduction to the games of Spiderweb Software. While Avadon has split fans because of it's low difficulty and streamlined elements, that makes it perfect for newcomers. It's also cheap as chips. |
| Exclusive: War of the Worlds trailer gives me the chills Posted: 20 Oct 2011 10:45 AM PDT
Destructoid's been given an exclusive early post of this new War of the Worlds trailer, and it's quite the treat! Showing off some intense moments from the game, the footage does a good job of communicating just how spine-tingling H.G. Wells' original story was. I saw a lot of promise in what I played of the game at PAX, so I am hoping the full product is just as good. It's great to see more of these sidescrolling adventure-platformers, especially if they're going to have Patrick Stewart in them! War of the Worlds will launch October 26. |
| Uncharted 3 multiplayer Plays, Creates and Shares Posted: 20 Oct 2011 10:30 AM PDT Stepping in line with the Play, Create and Share initiative Sony kicked off with LittleBigPlanet, Uncharted 3's multipayer will include some options for the would-be filmmakers among you. If you participated in the beta or, more recently, the multiplayer early access, you may have noticed the Uncharted TV video rolling in the bottom of the screen. If you perform particularly well in an uploaded match video, you could get a bit of PSN fame. Watch the video above for some details on Facebook sharing (because I know you all adore Facebook) as well as a refresher course on just how great Uncharted 3's character customization features are. UNCHARTED 3 Multiplayer Experience: Play, Create and Share [PlayStation Blog] |
| Review: Professor Layton and the Last Specter Posted: 20 Oct 2011 10:00 AM PDT "Tap away and let us be bound by our love of puzzles," a man tells you during your adventures through Misthallery -- the latest haunted, puzzle-infested English town that investigator Layton and his pint-size sidekick Luke must plod through. Like past Layton titles, the appeal of Professor Layton and the Last Specter lies in its challenging puzzles, eccentric characters, and the narrative's surrounding mysteries. More so than past titles, the mysteries of Misthallery are so well threaded together that you'll want to finish the game, not for the sake of completion, but for the sake of putting your curiosity at ease. Professor Layton and the Last Specter (Nintendo DS) Whereas last year's Layton entry, The Unwound Future, gave us a glimpse at future Luke and Layton, Last Specter takes us back to the beginning of their friendship. Professor Layton is the same charming, famous, and brainy man he's always been. Luke, on the other hand, is a social misfit in search of his true calling. After receiving a mysterious letter from the mayor of the sleepy, comfy town of Misthallery, Layton and his attractive and confident assistant Emmy go to investigate. The mayor happens to be an old friend of Layton, though they haven't kept in touch over the years. Nevertheless, Layton feels sympathy for the mayor's son Luke (yes, that Luke), who is troubled by the strange disappearance of his mother and even more so by apocalyptic visions that he's been having lately. An ominous, lumbering mystical creature has been attacking the town every night, and Luke seems to be the only one with a clue. On the mayor's order, Emmy and Layton investigate the situation. Unbeknownst to the mayor, they take Luke out of the house for the investigation as well, though Luke's reluctant father doesn't seem to mind or even notice. The story and cast of The Last Specter are the best yet in the series, which alone makes the game worth picking up. You'll be happy to hear than that the puzzles are also just as worthwhile. The variety of puzzles and increasing challenges will entertain both returning fans and newbies. Sliding blocks, riddles, mazes, math puzzles -- man, I hate math puzzles -- they're all here! Well, all except matchstick puzzles, which should make most sane people happy. Being the fourth entry in a yearly series, it shouldn't come as a surprise that some puzzles are recycled from past entries. The graphics and wording are redone, but the tricks and solution at the puzzles' core remain the same. This doesn't happen as nearly as much as you would think, though, given the numerous amount of puzzles (150+). If nothing else, it's a collection of greatest hits for newbies and a welcome break in challenge for veterans. The biggest problem with Last Specter, which has plagued all series entries, is the over-arching design of the game. A Professor Layton game is two things: a visual mystery novel and a collection of interactive Akira Tago puzzles. The series has always struggled to find ways to seamlessly blend the two. The transitions from character introduction to puzzle are less awkward in Last Specter -- largely thanks to a referential, humorous script -- but I still find much to complain about here. I absolutely hate tollways in games. Like, when an RPG won't let you enter an area until you are at a certain level, or when you can't progress to the next mission in a game until you have completed enough side-missions. As with past titles, Last Specter has moments where it will tell you that you can't continue until you do 25, 50, or 80 puzzles. It really kills the momentum and flow of the narrative. As a result, these games make me feel like I'm rubbing my stomach and patting my head at the same time. When I want to just enjoy the narrative and the main, plot-based puzzles, it stops me and sends me packing in the other direction. When I want to just relax and play some puzzles, the game inconveniences me with plot and poorly organized systems. For example, why must I search for the location of a previous puzzle I chose to leave undone? What does that add to anything? Why not just let me enjoy that puzzle from anywhere? I already discovered it, right? Although exploration is still time-consuming, Last Specter has a warp system (via Bucky's boat rides on the city's canals) that makes things easier. You'll enjoy your first couple of trips through areas on foot, since Misthallery is full of early-1900s decor and zany citizens that makes the world of Layton such a romantic and comfortable one. Misthallery sets a new bar for amusing, eccentric Layton inhabitants. It's hard to say why exactly they are crazier than usual, but it definitely keeps things interesting. My favorite character is a toss-up between a boy who thinks he is a bird, a homeless maniac who laughs at everyone's misfortune (including his own), and Goosey, a fat, mentally-stunted teenager who hides -- despite being too fat to hide anywhere -- and exclaims "That's Goosey!" when he's found. It's kind of creepy yet adorable. In nearly every aspect, Last Specter feels most faithful to the original in its design, story, and structure. It improves on the format in subtle ways but fails to evolve the series in others. Instead of chasing more ambitious ideas (how about a Professor Layton where players can create/share puzzles?), implementing full voice acting (still limited to animated scenes and specific events, though this may just be a limitation of the DS), or tying puzzles and story closer together, Level-5 have churned out just another series entry. Mind you, it's the best one yet, but it still comes short of reaching the concept's full potential. Still, it's difficult to damn the game's shortcomings, since no other developer has come close to achieving what Level-5 have done. Professor Layton is the only game I can get my mom to play, yet I can still enjoy it. Last Specter may not have any big twist on the format, but it's the most well designed entry yet. Perhaps there is comfort to be found in repeating a winning formula. In short, Last Specter is the best Layton yet. The inclusion of a warp system, lack of matchstick puzzles, and memorable cast makes it just a notch better than the Curious Village. However, the series still inconveniences players who play primarily for the story or those, like me, who want to enjoy the story first and puzzles later. There are many players who feel a need to complete every puzzle as they progress. These players won't run into the problem of puzzle tollways or losing track of a previous puzzle's location. However, until the series finds a way to accommodate both types of players, I can't say the game is a must-have for all. Professor Layton's London Life "From the team behind Mother 3! One hundred hours of gameplay! RPG! RPG! YAY! OH GOD YES!!! FUUUUUuuu... just give it to me! That's it! I'm taking off my pants! I'm dancing! I'm dancing! Look at me, ma! I'm dancing!" That's me regurgitating PR sheets and blind enthusiasm for what I thought London Life may be before its release. Here's what it actually is: Shit. It's free shit that comes attached to a worthwhile game, but it's still a bummer that it's a worthless and dull bonus. Let's dispel some of this PR hogwash. First of all, the game is not really the team behind Mother 3 -- Brownie Brown primarily (only?) did that game's art. As a result, London Life looks a lot like Mother 3, which is to say that it's gorgeous. One hundred hours of gameplay? I doubt it, but we'll probably never know since most sane players will give up on it after two hours or less. I certainly wasn't going to put myself through playing the entire thing for review purposes -- it's a bonus, after all, and one that is not fun at all to play, at that. RPG? Hardly. The game is like Animal Crossing or The Sims stripped down to its bare components. You go buy things, talk to townsfolk, and decorate your minuscule apartment. The problem is that there is little else to do, and the jobs you must take, in order to acquire wealth, are as mind-numbing as they come. The entire game is based around talking to a character on one side of the map, walking to a character on the other side of the map, and repeating until you are a rich dude with a beret and large sofa. In case you want something equally dull, you can hunt for trash on the street. You'll probably end up spending less time on London Life than the puzzles within Last Specter, except those are actually worthwhile and fun. London Life may not indicate the quality of the forthcoming Fantasy Life project between Brownie Brown and Level-5, but it definitely hasn't increased my confidence. If London Life's goal was to present what it's like to be a boring, senseless peasant in the world of Layton ... well, mission accomplished! |
| Touch My Katamari will be a day-one PlayStation Vita game Posted: 20 Oct 2011 09:45 AM PDT The Katamari Damacy title for PlayStation Vita has been given a rather amazing name: Touch My Katamari. Better yet, the game will be available on February 22 alongside the PlayStation Vita's debut in North America, Canada, Europe, and Latin America. I'm already on board by default given that this is coming to a twin-stick handheld. Not having to wait months after the Vita drops to play it? Fabulous. NAMCO BANDAI Games Inviting Fans to “Touch My Katamari” This February! [PlayStation Blog] |
| Moxie Girlz for DS is a thing that's out next week Posted: 20 Oct 2011 09:30 AM PDT I could have gone through life having never heard of Moxie Girlz. I'd have been perfectly fine with that. But whether I like it or not, that blissful ignorance has been stolen from me. The vacant stares of tweenage glam dolls now haunt my subconscious mind. And now, dear reader, I shall pass my pain on to you. Sharing is caring, after all. If you or (more likely) your daughter loves Moxie Girlz, you might be pleased to hear that the fashion dolls are making their way to the Nintendo DS on October 25th. Prepare for "hours of fun" in a game that encourages young girls to be "whatever they want to be." As long as that means being stick thin and obsessed with fashion, apparently. |
| Boomerang action in Super Mario 3D Land Posted: 20 Oct 2011 09:15 AM PDT In the past week, I’ve played an inordinate amount of old school, side scrolling Mario games, so the transition into 3D -- again -- was a bit jarring for me. Once I gained my bearings in the face of this extra dimension, I gave Super Mario 3D Land a go for the first time. Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
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| It Came from Japan! Clock Tower Posted: 20 Oct 2011 09:00 AM PDT [It Came from Japan! is a series where I seek out and review the weirdest, most original and enjoyable titles that never left the Land of the Rising Sun.] The key to eliciting fear has little to do with dogs that jump through windows or monsters that magically appear behind the player. These are jump scares that merely offer a temporary glimpse at the thing that makes us truly unnerved: vulnerability. Whether it's running down a corridor with no ammo left in Condemned, being limited to a wheelchair among ghouls in Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, or the entirety of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, feeling powerless against hostile, supernatural forces can really disturb a player. Being alone in a hostile world is one thing, but having no means of defense is what separates the Clock Tower series from other survival horror titles. Clock Tower (Super Famicom) Fan translation: Yes Although it has aged poorly, the original Clock Tower has a novelty value that makes it worth tracking down. It's like a 16-bit tribute to Dario Argento, dressed up as one of the strangest adventure games you'll ever play. Argento is one of the few masterminds of horror cinema who realized that sometimes plot just gets in the way of atmosphere. True horror comes from the unknown, so the longer the mystery stays unraveled, the better. Likewise, Human Entertainment applies a similar work philosophy with Clock Tower. As you travel from room to room, you'll gather small details of a larger picture that you will have to piece together in your head. Like the Argento films the game is inspired by -- it shares the most in common with Phenomena plot-wise -- you are given very little background information at the start of the game. You play as Jennifer Simpson, an orphan who is relocated to a remote mansion after a wealthy recluse adopts her and her friends. The children's teacher accompanies them to the mansion but mysteriously disappears after the girls enter. Since the other girls are useless, you are sent off to find her and figure out what is going on.
Spooky adventure time! Clock Tower has been around for a while. I remember renting the PlayStation sequel -- the first series entry to reach the states -- and being completely baffled by it. I have to use a mouse cursor... in a console game? I have to hide in a bathroom stall and hope I don't die? Surely, there must have been a shotgun near the entrance that I failed to pick-up! This is what I thought back then, and if this is your first time with the series, you'll most likely have similar thoughts with the Super Famicom original. At its core, Clock Tower is a very basic adventure game. You go from room to room, clicking on every notable object you can find. You'll either get an observation from Jennifer that will progress the game's narrative or an item that will be useful later. The twist on the formula, which makes Clock Tower a survival horror game, is that you are under constant threat of a strange man who is hunting you within the mansion; getting in his way means game over. As you walk/run through the mansion, you'll occasionally spot something moving behind a curtain or under a box. Sometimes it's a cat, and sometimes it's a deformed little boy with a giant pair of hedge-clippers who wants to kill you. Once you confront him (or any threat) head on, you will go into panic mode. Depending on your health, you'll be able to run past, but if you are in a less-than-ideal state, you'll start tripping, drastically slowing you down. If caught, you can rapidly press B to get out of the threat's grasp, but you'll eventually need to find a hiding space. Hearing the creepy/annoying alarm music play as you run down the halls of the manor makes for a genuinely disturbing experience when it first occurs. However, you'll eventually recognize what rooms are safe havens, which takes away much of the fear -- you just head toward one and wait the next time you come across little Bobby and his scissors. Also, since Scissorman is always triggered by certain player actions, you start to expect him whenever you click on a sketchy area of a room (uh oh, closed shower curtains!). In the sequels, Scissorman will appear randomly, making the games much scarier and more suspenseful.
What mansion in a videogame isn't haunted? The haunted mansion is the main character of Clock Tower. Each of its rooms is lovingly detailed with creepy family portraits, occult books, and the remains of a very demented family. It's impressive to see how well rendered all of it is on the SNES hardware. The limitations in color and scale give certain aspects of the world an extra haunted quality. Scissorman may look a bit goofy in this entry compared to later ones, but the characters' portraits do get under your skin. Again, the game shares a few similarities with the films of Dario Argento -- well, at least the ones he made in the '80s (the only ones that are worth watching). You have incoherent stories, distressed young girls, creepy occult stuff, and bright primary colors mixed with a dark, foggy setting. Seeing this sort of world come to life on the SNES has a lot of appeal for me, especially as an Argento fan. Discovering the hidden cave below Clock Tower's mansion and finding the dark secret beneath is a unique moment within the SNES' catalog. Unfortunately, navigating the mansion isn't very fun -- it doesn't take long before you are playing "Unlocking Doors: The Game." Resident Evil and Sweet Home have very well designed layouts that make locating rooms easy. Although Clock Tower is a 2D game, the mansion is designed with 3D space in mind, so you'll need to think of the mansion as a square instead of as a very long line. You'll go down hallways that take you from the east wing to the west wing, which can be very confusing since you are always heading left or right in 2D space. Clearly, this was designed to retain some realism for horror's sake, but it just ends up inconveniencing the player and dragging the game out. As a result of the mansion's layout, it takes longer to get to where you need to go and makes it harder to keep up with where everything is. Since you are constantly hunting for doors to unlock, this becomes a major flaw in the design.
COCK TOWER!!! LOL!111!! Thankfully, the game is brief and full of little surprises that make it worth playing to the end -- well, one of its endings, at least. There are so many little decisions you can make that will alter how the story unfolds and the ending you receive . I can only imagine the excited conversations that friends in Japanese schools would have had about the game's branching scenarios and vague story. Some of the things that happen can change pretty drastically, depending on the information you discover or fail to observe. It's very much Heavy Rain before its time. As an adventure game, Clock Tower isn't very interesting. The mansion's layout is confusing, puzzles are simple, and you’ll need to pixel hunt more than once. However, the atmosphere and unique design of the game make it worth experiencing. The game can be beat in less than three hours, which makes it perfect for a a single playthrough around Halloween. It's not very scary, but the game sets such a haunting mood that it can't be ignored.
Human Entertainment was at the forefront of bringing mature horror games to consoles. Along with the Twilight Syndrome series (which helped to launch Suda51's career) and Laplace no Ma (very much inspired by last week's featured entry, Sweet Home), Clock Tower is a game that helped establish survival horror as a genre and Human Entertainment as a developer. While the sequels are much scarier (due to random enemy triggers and more suspenseful hiding scenarios), there is something about the look, setting, and atmosphere of the original that makes it my favorite -- I've never played Clock Tower 3 or Haunting Ground, though. Despite its flaws, Clock Tower (or Clock Tower: The First Fear, as it was later renamed) is worth a shot. It's atmospheric horror at its most raw, for better or worse. It relies on few mechanics but still manages to tell a compelling story that will suck you in. Hopefully, you won't get too frustrated with the cheap deaths and pixel hunting to keep that from happening. -------------- Would cocks or glocks make Clock Tower scarier? Is there a mansion in videogames more confusing than the one in Clock Tower? Do mouse cursors in console games completely turn you away?
[Enter the void ...] |
| Review: Kinectimals: Now With Bears Posted: 20 Oct 2011 08:45 AM PDT I like cats but I love bears. How could you not love those rounded ears, that fuzzy face and little nub tail? I've been known to talk to bears. At bookstores I'll flip through bear picture books like some kind of addict. At zoos I giggle at their annoyed roars, somehow translating what would normally be seen as a dangerous warning as a call of affection toward me, as if to say "come over and scratch behind my ears, kind sir." Yes, I'm absolutely weak to cute animals, especially bears. Knowing this, one would expect that I would be all for the feline fun of Kinect title Kinectimals. I was certainly charmed by the cute cats from first sight, but I never got around to playing the title. Of course, I pounced on the opportunity to play a new version of the game, Kinectimals: Now With Bears. What little manliness I had went out then window when I adopted my first bear cub. I'm now a 11-year-old girl waving my hands in front of my television. I can only hope that no one ever sees me play this game. Kinectimals: Now With Bears (Xbox 360) Like the original release, Kinectimals: Now With Bears lets you interact with some of the cutest virtual animals ever created. The fun-loving felines of the original are still ready for a romp in this version, but now bear cubs are also available for play. I wasted no time in going the bear route, picking an adorable black bear from the line-up, but only after strongly considering the panda as my first choice. He was also impossibly cute. Hell, all of them are. The polar bear looked sad when I passed on him. It still hurts a bit. I set out on a guided adventure with my cub, exploring a deserted island packed with all kinds of trouble for us to get into. The game unfolds on a map, with new zones that are revealed after play requirements are met. With each new zone, new play types are uncovered to add to your arsenal. Through natural movements, my bear and I were able to juggle, play with RC cars, climb trees and even dig for buried treasure. As we found more places, we learned more tricks and met more bears to play with. The third bear I encountered was a sun bear. I can't quit him and his derpy face -- he's still my bear of choice. When you're not adventuring around the pirate-themed island to follow the loosely laced buried treasure story, you're doing the pet sim thing, with all the grooming and feeding you'd expect from a game of this type. You're free to take part in bear care at any time you wish, and each session will help you work toward unlocking the next fun area on the map to explore, meaning you can't lose. Compared with other pet sims, the big differences here are that you're going through the realistic motions with your hands, and that no pet sim looks this lovely. Both aspects are sure to win any child over, but fellow adults stricken with cute sickness will also appreciate the work the developers have put into this title. How could you not? Such realistic fur movement! The motion-sensing Kinect technology was free of fault in almost all of my play sessions. Navigating menus and basic interactions, like holding my hand out to feed my cub, happened without a hitch. Even more complex games, like playing volleyball with my bear (seriously!), were problem free and at times impressive in their range. A few of the moves, like tree climbing, which forced you to continually raise your hands and lean to coax your cub up and around trees, were a bit less intuitive, but never to the point of being broken. Throwing was also a bit off, as it required you to lean to aim your throw, and had less to do with the trajectory of your arm. Even with these small issues, young children should have no problem navigating and playing this game. Speaking of children, the game's sweet-voiced, fox-faced, flying narrator should prove to be a very useful guide for them. Adults, on the other hand, will find it hard to tolerate more than 5 minutes of her voice. There were times that I wished I could have sent my bear cub to claw her out of the sky and eat her face. I get why she's there, but she sometimes got in the way of my precious bear time with her talking and buzzing around. This is a children's game, so it's likely safe to assume that anyone reading this is considering a purchase for a child. Go for it. This game is adorable, sure, but where it really succeeds is with its motion control, which seems to give you a direct link with the cute animal on the screen. High-end visuals and animation work with this to complete the illusion of having this wild pet in your living room. And bears. How could you pass on bears? They lick the screen from the inside and you wipe off their slobber from the glass. How could you not be sold after knowing that? |
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