New Games |
- New Secret of Mana album's teaser website gives me chills
- Expect to hear more about Overstrike later this summer
- Adventures of Shuggy hits PC via Steam, direct download
- Preview: Hatsune Miku Project DIVA F has precision issues
- Resident Evil: Retribution trailer craps all over itself
- Live show: Mash Tactics is a Heroes' Paradise
- Review: Babel Rising
- Indie Game: The Movie's new credits put end to conflict
- Archie Sonic also getting love with a Comic-Con variant
- The winner of the battle of the E3 2012 predictions!
- Lovely HD: New Zone of the Enders HD Collection screens
- Indie Royale bundle has PixelJunk Eden, Escape Goat, more
- Logitech's new MMO mouse has weird buttons on the side
- thatgamecompany raises $5.5 million, wants to branch out
- Review: Gemini Wars
- Time Cowboy art will make you feel feelings and stuff
| New Secret of Mana album's teaser website gives me chills Posted: 14 Jun 2012 03:00 PM PDT Square Enix is having Secret of Mana composer Hiroki Kikuta prepare an all-new arrange album paying homage to his work on Seiken Densetsu 2 (Secret of Mana). It follows their celebration of the series last year that saw the massive 19-disc plus DVD book containing all the music from the series and an arrange album by Kenji Ito. |
| Expect to hear more about Overstrike later this summer Posted: 14 Jun 2012 02:00 PM PDT Insomniac's four-person, cooperative action game Overstrike was sadly absent from E3 2012. What gives? Speaking to CVG, EA Labels president Frank Gibeau said "It's a new IP and we want to make it the right game, so they're taking some extra time to nail the gameplay and the quality." "It felt like we would stand out better later in the summer once we've hit some key milestones and we're able to show off more," he continued. As busy as E3 tends to be, I feel like Overstrike would have stood out just fine in what ended up being a show full of sequels. That said, they do only get one first impression. I'm already more or less sold on the game, conceptually, so I'm willing to remain patient if that's what it takes for Insomniac to do its thing and live up to last year's promising teaser trailer. EA explains Overstrike E3 no-show [CVG via VG247] |
| Adventures of Shuggy hits PC via Steam, direct download Posted: 14 Jun 2012 01:00 PM PDT Though it's not going to appeal to all of you, I quite liked The Adventures of Shuggy. It sounds as if very few people played the puzzle platformer on Xbox Live Arcade, which makes me hopeful that the brand new PC version can attract a sizable audience. This certainly wouldn't be the first time an indie game has started out on Xbox 360 only to see substantially more success on PC. Right now, Shuggy is being sold at a discounted launch-week price of $7.99 on Steam and also directly from developer Smudged Cat Games. The latter is $10, but there's no DRM and you can even optionally get a Steam key thrown in, too. |
| Preview: Hatsune Miku Project DIVA F has precision issues Posted: 14 Jun 2012 12:00 PM PDT Here's a quick lesson on Japanese pop culture: Yamaha sells a software called Vocaloid, which provides the digitized voice of a singer and allows users to incorporate it into their own music productions. Each singer is represented by an anime mascot, to give a face to the voice. The second wave of Vocaloid products introduced Hatsune Miku, who quickly became the most popular Vocaloid due to her voice and character design. She is essentially a virtual idol: singing in thousands of songs, being featured in tons of fan art, and even performing "live" in concert thanks to advanced holographic technology, way before anyone brought Tupac back to life. It's quite a fascinating phenomenon, but of course that means there's merchandising galore. One product is Sega's rhythm game series Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA, which is a cuter version of Elite Beat Agents. There are two main PSP games in the series, as well as a few spin-offs here and there. The next major game in the series, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F, is being made for PlayStation 3 and Vita. Though no previous game in the series has been released outside of Japan, there was actually a localized demo of Project DIVA F for Vita present at Sony's E3 booth. It's hard to tell whether this is because Sega actually plans to bring the game west or whether Sony just needed another Vita game to fill up booth space. Either way, as the only contributor who had ever played the original PSP game, it fell to me to take Project DIVA F for a spin.
In Project DIVA F, players pick from a list of some of the most popular Vocaloid songs, including some sung by characters other than Hatsune Miku. As the music video plays, face buttons fly in from around the screen and land in corresponding spots, with timing indicated by a minute hand spinning and pointing up when it's time to press the button. The previous game also added the need to sometimes hold a button or press a d-pad direction as well. In general, it's easier to just time the button presses with the beat than to rely on the visual timing. Players are then rated on accuracy and can build up combos if they don't miss the buttons. Doing well unlocks harder difficulties and numerous outfits. I played the song "Cat Food" by doriko (the second song in the trailer above) on two difficulties, and in terms of the core experience, Project DIVA F is remarkably similar to the past two games. Sure, the graphics are somewhat better, taking advantage of the Vita's power to render more colorful and energetic scenes, even if Miku and friends are somewhat plastic. But considering the need to focus on the buttons flying in from anywhere on the screen, the pretty visuals in the background are at best ignorable and at worst distracting. Some changes are made to the scoring system, such as a "Technical Zone" in which combos earn bonus points. One section of a song, "Chance Time," has been slightly altered. Instead of happening at a specific time towards the end of the song, this point bonus section is activated by filling a gauge up. The function of "Chance Time" still remains quite frustrating: it provides a massive point bonus that can only be fully taken advantage of by entering it with a high combo and not missing any buttons. Messing it up by missing only one or two notes can be the difference between getting a great ranking and just barely passing the song. These problems aren't helped by the accuracy required, which has not changed at all since the first game. The level of precision required from the player is sometimes astounding. For someone who grew up playing two instruments, has played rhythm games for years, and has likes to think he has an excellent sense of timing, it can sometimes be shocking to play a Project DIVA game and be graded so harshly. This is why Project DIVA F's main gameplay "innovation" seems so out of place. Though the game is also coming out on the PS3 in Japan, the Vita version has an additional method of input: a star that must be hit with the touch screen. When I first saw this, I thought it might remind me of the good times I had with Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, but its implementation is really unintuitive. You don't actually tap the stars -- you swipe, anywhere on the screen. That's right, in a game that requires intense precision, Sega has decided that the best way to use the touch screen was to require an imprecise swiping motion. Whoever thought that this was a good idea needs to be fired. Sega claims that it might actually consider bringing Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F stateside, noting that there was some "good" buzz from those at E3 who actually played it. While it's always cool for fans to get something they like localized, I'm not sure what the point is. If you've read this far, I'm surprised that you're actually interested enough in the game. Hatsune Miku and Vocaloid are niche concepts in America to begin with and I can't see a Project DIVA game selling well. Those who might want to play it are likely to import it anyway, since players only need to figure out how to navigate the menu, making it a very import-friendly game. Even then, once you consider the strict timing and imprecise touch screen control, it would probably be more fun to pick up the first PSP game on the cheap. |
| Resident Evil: Retribution trailer craps all over itself Posted: 14 Jun 2012 11:00 AM PDT I really loved the first Resident Evil movie. It was a self-contained story set within the universe that didn't mess with the main story arc. I even liked Apocalypse, even though they messed a little with the main story. I forgave it though, largely because Nemesis was pretty badass, and the actress that played Jill Valentine was gorgeous. Then Extinction and Afterlife happened, and it was at that point I stopped considering them Resident Evil movies, and enjoyed them as regular zombie flicks. Now, we have the "final" installment with Resident Evil: Retribution, which looks like a giant mess that's crapping all over the story they created. Based on the debut trailer here, it looks like none of the past Resident Evils movies happened, it was all in Alice's head. Characters that you thought died in the first movie are well and alive, the world didn't actually end, and they're trying to bring back spinning hubcaps (2:07). On the plus side, Jill is back in her brainwashed form as seen in Resident Evil 5, and Leon and Ada are finally introduced to the movie franchise. Interestingly, Chris and Claire Redfield are nowhere to be seen in the trailer. So there you go, another freaking Resident Evil movie. And guess what? It's going to pull in a ton of money. The films have made over $675 million worldwide, with the last movie alone pulling in $296 million alone. |
| Live show: Mash Tactics is a Heroes' Paradise Posted: 14 Jun 2012 10:30 AM PDT King Foom is about to wrap his hands around a mail-order lightsaber, and wrap up this week of "Sudafest". It's Travis Touchdown's turn to take the spotlight in No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise today on Mash Tactics. This is one of those must-play games, so if you haven't played it, come see what all the fuss is about. Oh, and also tune in to see Foom wank his Move controller a bunch. Mash Tactics airs Monday through Friday at 4p.m. Pacific on Dtoid.TV. Watch King Foom play a variety of games, each day with its own theme. With a heavy focus on community and viewer interaction, you can be as much a part of the show as anything else.
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| Posted: 14 Jun 2012 10:00 AM PDT "And so God scattered them upon the face of the Earth, and confused their languages, and they left off building the city, which was called Babel." Of course, Babel Rising, the latest Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network offering only scratches the surface of these metaphysical implications, but does it at least offer you some fun for a lazy Sunday afternoon? Babel Rising (Xbox Live Arcade [reviewed], PlayStation Network) Said humanistic futility is directly incorporated into the gameplay of Babel Rising (which is a complete 3D rework of the successful iOS game), as it is your holy duty as God itself to prevent a bunch of adorable little cartoon citizens from challenging your power. Your mission is to stop them from building a tower to the heavens through any means necessary. In fact, think of it like an anti-Lemmings. You accomplish this goal by utilizing two of four potential powers: Earth, Wind, Water, or Fire. Each of the two powers has two unique functions mapped to your controller's face buttons. Using the left analog stick, a reticle will guide your powers in the right direction. For instance, the Earth power nets you the ability to call down boulders, or rip the ground itself asunder. Power diversity is encouraged through a Tony Hawk-style combo system that rewards you for using as many different powers as possible. Enemies make funny noises when you smite them, otherwise distracting from the rather morbid nature of the affair. Control-wise, everything is pretty straight forward barring one major glaring issue: the camera is controlled entirely with the right analog stick. If you're under attack from multiple angles, you often times have to take your hands off of a button/power to slowly move the camera around. Even though you can do a quick 180 by pressing in the right analog stick, utilizing the LB and RB buttons (L1 and R1) would have been a godsend here. Babel Rising supports both Microsoft's Kinect and Sony's Move control schemes. For the purposes of this review, Kinect was tested. Thankfully, both control methods are utterly optional, as God himself wouldn't even dream of toying with them for more than an instant (or whatever metric of time he/she perceives as an instant). To be blunt, the only cool thing about Kinect is that you can yell "Earth, Wind, Water, or Fire" at the screen: so you can pretend you're a Planeteer for five minutes, have your fun, and move on to bigger and better things. You'll have to bear with some initial disappointment with the game's campaign, as you can sleepwalk through the first five missions, but after that initial offering, the game's intricacies immediately become evident. Builders and Priests -- units that can shield themselves from certain attacks -- start coming from multiple angles, forcing you to constantly survey the area and combine your powers to garner success. When you're not fighting the aforementioned camera controls, it can actually be quite fun, hectic, and unique. Unfortunately, all of this is over in under two hours, as the campaign only offers a few short missions across three maps/structures. Also, don't go in expecting some grand, enlightening narrative in regards to the deific content of the game. Outside of the setup, everything is presented in a fairly vanilla, cut-and-dry manner -- it's not nearly as entertaining as Rock of Ages' God theme, for example. Other than the campaign, Babel Rising offers a standard endless survival mode, and multiplayer. Like all puzzle games, unless you're completely hooked, you'll quickly grow tired of engaging in the same survival scenario over and over by yourself (even if you can choose between the game's three levels/towers). Of course, this repetition will drive you to the game's multiplayer mode over time, which is restricted to two-person local play only. In this day and age, it's practically criminal for an XBLA or PSN game to exclude an online mode, especially in a game that thrives in essentially replaying the same concept over and over. In fact, Babel's co-op mode is easily the most fun thing it has to offer, as each player takes two of the game's four powers, allowing for some pretty rad combinations. If you don't have anyone readily available to sit down next to you, however, you're pretty much out of luck. The game currently has a menu option for downloadable content, but as is the case with any given arcade game, nothing is guaranteed. If it's anything like what's on offer from the iOS version, it'll involve things like enraged worker modifiers (x2 speed) or harder difficulties. As of now, you're stuck with what you're given. Overall, Babel Rising is an interesting concept that ultimately won't hold your interest for very long. There aren't many God simulators out on the market anymore, and the simplistic nature of the game easily could have swayed a ton of new potential fans. Unfortunately, the package is fairly bare bones, and doesn't really deliver any long-term enjoyment. If you buy this, be prepared to turn the other cheek. |
| Indie Game: The Movie's new credits put end to conflict Posted: 14 Jun 2012 09:45 AM PDT A bit of controversy between Fez creator Phil Fish's ex-business partner and indie documentary Indie Game: The Movie has been laid to rest today, one 3GB Steam update and subtle word change to an end-credits note later. Two days after IGTM's wide digital release, a major change has been made to the film's credits. Originally, a note in the credits read: "Phil Fish's ex-business partner asked not to participate in this film." Now, the credits say that the partner "was not asked to participate in this movie." Literally, the complete opposite. When the film played festivals, it carried neither message, but you wouldn't need to dig deep to discover something odd was going on behind the film. Phil Fish's struggle with developing Fez takes up a third of IGTM. His frustration comes to a precipice when he arrives at PAX East 2011, ready to show Fez to the public for the first time in years, and is unsure if he can show his game because he needs his ex-business partner (Jason DeGroot) to sign a legal document. Fish, in this scene, rants against DeGroot and even says he wants to kill DeGroot. Yet, we never hear the ex-partner's side of the story. It's interesting to note then that Fez's new partner, Trapdoor founder Ken Schachter, is also the executive producer of IGTM. This irritated indie game designer Shawn McGrath, so he took his grievances to Twitter. Within minutes, his Twitter ragefest was reposted on NeoGAF and analyzed by the community, putting a name to the "ex-partner" alongside other information. While McGrath is still upset to see how his friend (DeGroot) was misrepresented, McGrath said he is happy to see this change made to the film. "I don't think all is well, but it's getting somewhere," McGrath said. "Too many people saw the movie with a lie for all to be well, I'd imagine." McGrath is the creative designer behind the upcoming DYAD which led some to believe this whole thing was a publicity stunt. Speaking to McGrath, I found this couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, he requested I not mention DYAD -- hard to do when it's in his Twitter handle. His intentions were clear, however: He was just looking out for his friend who had been hurt by the way IGTM presented him, or rather refused to present him at all, according to McGrath. While most of NeoGAF speculated on what type of person Jason DeGroot is, 8-4 co-founder John "JohnTV" Ricciardi came to DeGroot's defense. "I have known the 'other guy' (Jason) for something like 10-15 years now, and can promise there is not an evil bone in that guy's body," Ricciardi wrote. "One of the nicest, most down-to-earth dudes you will ever meet." Jason DeGroot and IGTM's filmmakers have been in talks for a while about addressing his absence in the film, according to McGrath. After a couple emails, it was settled that IGTM would have a note in the credits saying that DeGroot was never asked to be in the film. "Rejected" would be a more honest word, but DeGroot was happy enough until he saw a screencap of the digital release's credits, stating that he "asked not to participate in this film." According to Brandon Boyer (aka Brandonnn on NeoGaf), IGF chairman and friend of the filmmakers behind IGTM, "The line was always supposed to read "Phil Fish's ex-business partner was not asked to participate in this film", it was brought to their attention last night, and they've been preparing a new, corrected version to replace the one currently on Steam/streaming/etc." It's unclear whether this was just a typo or a more complicated issue. The filmmakers couldn't be reached at this time. Regardless, there is clearly a story to be told behind the PAX East conflict and the greater falling out between Fish and DeGroot at Polytron. For now, DeGroot is just happy to see that revised note make the film, while McGrath is happy to see his friend's name cleared a little and out of the line-of-fire. "He's been pretty quiet, so I don't know what he did [to get the ending changed]," McGrath said. "I have no idea what he's thinking, he's been offline for a while now." |
| Archie Sonic also getting love with a Comic-Con variant Posted: 14 Jun 2012 09:30 AM PDT Not to be outdone but that other blue upstart, Sonic is getting his own comic variant exclusive to the San Diego Comic-Con. Well, scratch that -- Sonic doesn't actually feature. The sketch variant that Archie is making available is Sonic Universe #41, which kicks off a new story arc that stars a Secret Freedom Fighters team led by... Silver the Hedgehog. Yeah, yeah, Silver the Hedgehog. He's been getting his nose into other people's business ever since 2006, but what can you do? In his new threads and new position of leadership, the best we can hope for is that he pulls a Raiden and starts dicing up fools like onions. Something tells me that's not gonna happen. The cover, done by artist Ben Bates, is pretty spiffy, nonetheless. And look! A Metal Sonic is on the team! That's nuts! And he has a Mega Buster, for some reason. Speaking of which, check back to my post on the Mega Man SDCC variant, which has been updated with a higher-res version of that comic's cover done by Patrick Spaziante. |
| The winner of the battle of the E3 2012 predictions! Posted: 14 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT Before E3, I posted Destructoid's annual E3 predictions. It was an epic competition for the ages. A competition even more brutal than the Thunderdome, Hunger Games, and Battle Royale COMBINED! I asked a videogame analyst (Jesse Divnich), a gamer (Bill Platt), a toddler (Sadie), a horse (Ciel), and a coin (nickel) the same 50 questions provided by the lovely Destructoid community. These five contestants answered the yes or no questions to see who could come up with the most accurate predictions for E3. Now that E3 is over, the results are in ... and we have a winner! Of the five competitors, who emerged victorious? Who made the most accurate E3 2012 predictions? I am so ridiculously excited, and I already know the results!
For this follow-up post, I will just get to the results. Because that's why you all are here, right? Here is a chart of which contestants made which predictions, and the results based on what was announced at E3. Remember, these things could happen eventually, but if they weren't talked about at E3, the result is "no." The original questions are on the left; results on the right. The correct predictions are highlighted in yellow, while the incorrect answers are in grey. After counting up all the correct answers, the winner is ... THE GAMER! Congratulation to Bill Platt on an outstanding victory! Nice job! But, as you can see, it was a close race between the gamer and the analyst. Only one correct answer separated the two! In a surprise, the horse and coin both put up some pretty solid numbers as well. Sorry, Sadie the toddler. You are so unbelievably cute -- and your positivity is infectious! -- but all those "yes" answers were your downfall. Here is an exact percentage breakdown of how many predictions each contestant got correct: The analyst - 38 out of 50 correct. 76% What do you think of the results? Did you pick the correct winner? Who were you rooting for? Are you surprised by any of this, or were you expecting the gamer to take it? It was an interesting E3. Only 11 and a half more months until next year! I am excited already. [UPDATE: The analyst, Jess Divnich, is such an amazing guy. To congratulate the gamer, he is donating $200 to Child's Play in Bill Platt's name and buying him a game of his choosing. CLASS ACT!] |
| Lovely HD: New Zone of the Enders HD Collection screens Posted: 14 Jun 2012 08:30 AM PDT It's the next best thing to a new Zone of the Enders game. An HD upgrade. In a collection. Well, screens of an HD collection. Konami is still set to release the two ZoE remasters in a collection this Fall, and they've sent out some new screenshots todayto hold you over until then. As you'll see from the images in our gallery, the HD upgrade looks really nice. The Frames look so sharp and clean. The recent Silent Hill Collection left a nasty taste in my mouth, but somehow I'm not too worried about this one. You'll also find some screens from the game's new opening in our big ol' gallery. Enjoy. |
| Indie Royale bundle has PixelJunk Eden, Escape Goat, more Posted: 14 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT I respect what the folks behind the Indie Royale have been doing, but for me personally, many of the bundles haven't stood out as must-buys. This new one, however -- hell yes! It's got my full support. For less than $5, you can nab PixelJunk Eden (Steam), Escape Goat (Windows, Desura), Noitu Love 2: Devolution (Steam, Windows, Desura), an exclusive updated alpha version of The Iconoclasts (!!!), and Auditorium (Steam, Windows, Mac, Desura). Talk about a nice little collection of titles. By paying $7 or more for this June Bug Bundle, you'll also get 8 Bit Weapon's album Bits with Byte. |
| Logitech's new MMO mouse has weird buttons on the side Posted: 14 Jun 2012 07:30 AM PDT Look at the side of this thing. It's...weird looking. The newly announced Logitech G600 MMO Gaming Mouse has 20 programmable buttons for you MMO players out there. That cluster of weirdness you see on the left side of the mouse is made up of 12 thumb buttons that you can freely assign to any command desired. I'd assign the 'G20' button to order pizza. There's three default profiles for the mouse -- two for MMOs and one for standard gaming -- to have it ready to go, out of the box. No drivers required, says Logitech. Also, colors: the thumb panel's backlight can be assigned to any of 16 million possible colors. I'd love to get my hands (and thumb) on one of these. I wonder how well the buttons are laid out. I feel like I'd just be blindly mashing them at first. Logitech says that this mouse will hit shelves next month for a suggested MSRP of $79.99. |
| thatgamecompany raises $5.5 million, wants to branch out Posted: 14 Jun 2012 07:15 AM PDT I've been a dedicated follower of indie game maker thatgamecompany since their beginnings, and they've never disappointed with their releases. But things are about to really ramp up for them. The Santa Monica-based company has just ended their game deal with PlayStation, and now they've raised $5.5 million from Benchmark Capital. Benchmark are the guys that funded Riot Games, makers of League of Legends, and more recently, Meteor Entertainment, the folks behind the awesome upcoming free-to-play title Hawken. What to do with all that freedom and cash? Why not make more games for more platforms, reaching out to wider audiences? Founder Jenova Chen tells GamesBeat that he wants to "spread out" now, and that the funding will enable TGC to develop and release games independently. "We got so many emails from fans saying they wished they could play our games on other platforms," Chen said. "We make games for human beings, not just gamers. Young, old, men, women, and from all countries. We want to change the concept of what a game is and show society what a game can be." Chen confirmed that a new title is in the works, and it will definitely be a cross-platform game. |
| Posted: 14 Jun 2012 07:00 AM PDT Space seems like an unfriendly place. Beyond the regular hazards such as the lack of oxygen, lots of floating junk, and apocalypse-causing chunks of rock and ice, there's also all the people fighting. Killing people in space, particularly with ships, appears to be rather popular. Though not popular enough so that we are drowning in games on the subject. Killing things on alien worlds? Sure. Killing people in the future? Plenty of that. But not much space warfare. Gemini Wars is all about that very subject, however. Big ships, captained by angry people, blowing up the ships of other angry people and aliens. That was more than enough for it to capture my interest, initially. After 16 missions of strategic conflict and the eradication of my enemies, I'm ready to leave space behind and take a well-deserved break on our lovely little planet. Gemini Wars (Mac, PC [reviewed]) Gemini Wars follows the exploits of Captain Cole, a boring, hideously deformed fellow who has returned to duty after being exiled for a few years. Now, I should point out that almost everyone in Gemini Wars looks awful, so Cole could very well be the most handsome man in the galaxy for all I know. Cole works for the USF, who are humans, and they are at war with the Alliance, who are also humans. And now you know their defining characteristics. Beyond the aesthetic differences in ship designs and bases, there doesn't appear to be much between them. Well, other than the fact that a man offers you feedback on a USF ship and woman for the Alliance ones. It's the same two voices for every ship and they talk a lot. Mainly about enemies being destroyed. There is no option to rip out their throats, so muting the game became something of a must early on. The obnoxious sound effects, inconsistent volume, and generally poor quality audio were not missed. Missions take place in a variety of solar systems, some taking up multiple systems in fact. Scattered around these systems are asteroids for crystal mining, planetary bodies, and hazards such as dangerous gas clouds. Cole's fleet can construct military bases, mining stations, colonies, and other facilities to augment his forces. If you're the "paranoid general" type, you might like to surround your bases with plenty of turrets. A wall of them can fend of a surprisingly powerful force, at least for long enough so that you can reinforce the position or mount a counterattack. Ships move at a painfully slow pace, but can make hyperspace jumps to close areas. Eventually Cole can order the construction of platforms that allow for extra solar travel. The maps can get really big, almost imposing. They look quite arresting as well, full of color and massive worlds as they are. They are 3D but everything takes place on a 2D plane. Unit positioning is only really important in terms of range; ships just line up and fire their cannons. It makes battles feel very hands off, and despite the weapon effects and explosions, quite dull to watch. Crystal and research points are the game's resources. Crystal can be gained from mining and is used for everything you build. Research points are accumulated by building research stations and can be spent on technological upgrades from a simple tree. There's very little unit customization, but lots of research and experience points gained from battle can make any vessel hardy. With there being only one resource I needed to actively seek out, I never found myself torn between building on different areas. There's plenty of gathering, but very little management. There's frequently abundance of crystal, so it ends up being the facilities that restrict the speed of your war machine, not the lack of resources. While the game starts off as a war between the USF and the Alliance, it quickly becomes a desperate struggle between humans, an alien race known as the Grak, and a group of traitors. While none of the antagonists are even remotely interesting, they at least provided a bit of diversity. When the giant fleets face each other and unleash their brightly colored lasers and projectiles, the effect is quite satisfying. However, battles often start with slowly moving into position and that can feel like an eternity. I had an Invincible comic lying on my desk which I enjoyed reading as I waited for stuff to happen. And oh how I waited. The warp mechanic is one of the few things that Gemini Wars does well. One moment it can be a convenience and relief from the slow behemoths under your command, but the next moment it could be your downfall. There's a cool down between jumps -- one that is thankfully the same for every ship -- so if you jump to an area and get ambushed, you're stuck there for a little while. Ships that lose too much of their crew or lose their engines are completely trapped, even if they aren't on cool down. I found myself in many intense situations, where I was pathetically trying to save as many ships as possible while keeping one eye on the counter just waiting for it to hit 100. The single-player, story-based campaign is all you get in Gemini Wars, though it's a hefty one. Generally the AI is incredibly predictable, so it's not something I imagine many people replaying. Multiplayer and skirmishes are being added at a later date, which should give it a bit more longevity. They will be free, to boot. The story itself is not particularly memorable, but there are enough twists and turns so that there's motivation to continue. Motivation that, in my experience, was slowly eroded by putting up with a whole plethora of annoying bugs. I can get bored quite easily, so I like a lot of diversity. The bugs certainly have me covered in that respect. Many of the issues I encountered occurred in saved games. I'd lose some of my research, which stopped me building more of the ships I'd already been building. I thought I was going mad, but then I saw the rest of my fleet, filled with vessels the game was telling me I couldn't possibly build. Researching it all over again didn't solve the issue. Replay mission. I encountered one enemy fleet which had more than doubled in size when I reloaded. It swiftly demolished any forces I sent to engage it and there was no way for me to increase my unit cap. Replay mission. I found myself incapable of boarding a space station, the main objective of the mission. Replay mission. I found myself incapable of boarding a space station ... oh for goodness' sake. Skip mission. You get the picture. Gemini Wars has two good ideas, which is two more than a lot of games. There simply aren't enough story-based space strategy games, and the warp mechanic was wonderfully employed, making wars across several systems exciting and risky. Unfortunately, I spent most of my experience with the title cursing in frustration at all the bugs, or wishing I was doing something -- anything -- other than sitting in front of my PC, watching ships move with the haste of a geriatric. With enough patches it could be a perfectly serviceable RTS, if not a particularly fun one. |
| Time Cowboy art will make you feel feelings and stuff Posted: 14 Jun 2012 06:30 AM PDT Those pesky "emotions." How dare videogames make me feel things! How dare artists like Zac Gorman and Matthew Taranto remind me that videogames make me feel things! You can add Aussie illustrator Jake Lawrence to that the list of sensitivity cases. Jake's website Time Cowboy is a collection of short comics and standalone pieces, many based on videogames. He recently drew a trilogy of Wind Waker strips, the first two of which you can see in the header, but his big focus is on the Animal Crossing series, in which there is no shortage of material for observational humor, introspection, and pure whimsy. I had a nice laugh over the Mario Kart piece guest starring Thor, if only because I was just re-watching Thor last night. The coincidental timing was just too perfect. What tickles you guys? Check out the gallery below, then check out Jake's page for even more goodies. Time Cowboy! [Tumblr] |
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