New Games |
- Indie Nation: Zineth
- Torzelan opens hell's gate with Demon's Crest death metal
- Review: Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams
- Mega Ran and Richie Branson drop The Ghouls 'n Ghosts EP
- Feast of Fiction cooks up pipin' hot Zelda pumpkin soup
- Review: Shad'O
- Contest: Tweet to win Zone of the Enders HD!
- Chibi-tech releases the insane 8-bit Moe Moe Kyunstep
- Review: WWE '13
- 20 minutes of the world's most amazing cosplay gathering
- The Daily Hotness: I wish I could listen to this
- The DTOID Show: Watch_Dogs, Hitman Absolution, & Halo 4
| Posted: 03 Nov 2012 09:00 AM PDT Jet Grind Radio is my favorite game of all time. I don't care that people think it no longer holds up -- its place is solidified in my mind as number one. It's a decade old and still has more style and better character design than most games today. Zineth is very much inspired by Jet Grind Radio. It's stylish, it's clean, and oh yeah, you skate around the environment. Zineth also has a bizarrely addicting, yet simple, Pokémon variant. My only wish is that this wasn't just an experiment and was instead a full-fledged game.
Zineth controls a bit funky with a mouse and keyboard, so I recommend connecting a controller and playing with that. You need to repeatedly tap a button to gain speed, which sounds tedious, but it cements you into a rhythm and feels surprisingly natural with the skating animation. The best addition to the controls when compared to something like JGR is easily the ability to rewind time. Sometimes in JGR, you overshoot something or don't get a wallride quite right and it's a bit tedious to start over. Rewinding time, however, solves that in an instant. It's such a small addition that alleviates so much frustration. Any slight mistake that would otherwise set you back five minutes can be fixed immediately. It's a good example of how just one design decision can impact a game in an incredible way.
The other big addition, and a reflection of 21st-century pop culture, is the cellphone. There is no actual pause button -- instead, you access the menus through your in-game cellphone. "That's hardly neat, Patrick," I can hear you drone, "even Grand Theft Auto IV had an in-game cellphone!" To that I say sure, it probably did. But did it also have KILLER APPS? Probably not! You can check your honest-to-goodness Twitter straight from the game.
But wait there's more! Why not tweet a nice picture straight to your millions of followers? You're welcome, millions of followers. Now, onto the Pokémon-esque minigame app that's also on the phone. Scattered across the map are NPCs that you can challenge in a creature-on-creature battle via your phone. It's very simple: your dude will shoot automatically on a regular interval and your job is to evade their shots. You can also get in close and perform a melee attack for bonus damage. You'll also level up and distribute stats to improve your monster. It's simple, it's satisfying, and it's pretty damn fun. In fact, that's pretty indicative of this entire package. Zineth is such a wonderful game; it's the Jet Grind Radio of a new generation, albeit in bite-sized form. Is the music as good? No way. Does it have spray painting quick-time events? No, but in their stead are cellphone apps like Twitter and a Pokémon-like game. For an "experiment," I'd say this was a rousing success. Download Zineth here. |
| Torzelan opens hell's gate with Demon's Crest death metal Posted: 03 Nov 2012 08:30 AM PDT
What would Halloween be like without a little underworld summoning? Thanks to one of Dtoid's most talented shredders, Torzelan, we all can jam out to the sweet sounds of unquenchable hellfire! "Red Retaliation" is a death metal cover of "The Infinite Demon," the final battle theme from the unholy Super Nintendo platformer Demon's Crest. With crazy guitar licks and deep, guttural vocals, this is the kind of music that makes old Catholic ladies' heads burst like in Scanners. Torzelan whipped this up for October's Dwelling of Duels rock remix competition. I make a habit of checking the new competitions every month. You ought to as well. There's some good sh*t. Demon's Crest - Red Retaliation - Rearrangement by Torzelan [YouTube] |
| Review: Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams Posted: 03 Nov 2012 07:00 AM PDT Giana Sisters is a game that generally incites one response: plagiarism of Super Mario Bros. When Black Forest Games launched its Kickstarter campaign for Project Giana back in July, the intention was to provide gamers the chance to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Giana Sisters with a unique new game. As one of the first Steam Greenlight games released, it's finally here for us to see Giana all dolled up and ready for her graduation.
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams (PC [reviewed], PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade) Black Forest Games has kept a firm stance on its approach since launching the campaign to have the game formerly known as Project Giana released: to create something unique and exceptional, giving Giana a game that truly feels like her adventure. Giana, now a teenager, is drawn into her dream alongside her sister Maria, and they have become separated. It’s up to Giana to save her sister and escape her dream, but Giana is now grown up -- she is no longer scared of her nightmares and hates the cute, sugary dreams she once used to love. So in the center of Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, you’ll find the dream-change mechanic. At the touch of a button, Giana will switch between her twisted nightmare and cute dream, and depending on which she inhabits, she’ll also change her persona. In the twisted dream, “Cute” Giana will twirl and dance her way through the scary world filled with demons, while in the other, “Punk” Giana will bring her fire dash and aggressiveness out to combat the cute owls and sunshine. Switching between these personas is essential. As the dreams mirror each other, obstacles and routes will appear depending on which dream you inhabit, requiring you to switch on the spot to progress or figuring out the best approach to switching between the abilities of the different personas. Some spots call for “Punk” Giana to dash and bounce off walls and enemies, while others call for “Cute” Giana to twirl and glide through the air; there's a good amount of puzzles to solve. At certain intervals, boss battles will appear, also requiring things to be switched up to defeat them. Think Donkey Kong Country 2 and its tag system, just with less monkey business.
The difficulty increases steadily as progress is made, and Twisted Dreams also allows for players to go at their own pace. For those who enjoy exploring and treasure hunting, the stages are vast and feature numerous routes. For those who just wants to jump and run, the game still packs a challenge. On a standard run through, it's about 5-6 hours to get to the very end, so it feels a bit on the short side despite its 23 levels however. Throughout each stage, there are also several hundreds of crystals. The blue ones can be picked up by either Giana while red are obtainable by “Punk” and yellow are specific to “Cute.” Reaching these different colored crystals often requires some strategy of interchanging the worlds to reach. Giant mega crystals are also scattered around to be found and collected for secrets. Stages are also able to be replayed after completion to find all the crystals, and extras are rewarded after each stage depending on how many you found and the number of times you died. Some of the secret crystals are damn hard to find, so expect to revisit quite a few of the stages if you want a perfect score.
Several new modes can be unlocked based on your completion rate -- "Time Attack," "Hardcore," and "Uber-Hardcore" -- upping the ante and giving you only one shot at clearing a stage, or be sent back to the beginning. A gallery mode is also unlockable. The controls are very responsive, and feel natural once you pick the controller up. Using an Xbox 360 controller, the button layout is properly balanced out to make all the abilities accessible without too much thought or practice, and sign posts on the first few stages will help you get the hang of things. With a keyboard, it's a bit more tricky to get the timing down however, and several sections require some finicky maneuvering that'll bring back memories of the submarine stages of Earthworm Jim so you're really better off using a gamepad to fully enjoy the game. Great Giana Sisters was most famous for its soundtrack by Chris Hülsbeck back in the day, and they brought him back for this to go full circle. Like the dreams, the music will also change when the switch is made. The twisted world features Chris Hülsbeck’s new arrangements and compositions, while the cute features a metal rendition of these tracks by the band Machinae Supremacy. It’s a bit of a risky move to constantly have music change on the fly, but thankfully, they spent time balancing out the arrangements -- the switch is done with a subtle cross-fade. It’s a really great soundtrack, made all the more interesting by it being dynamic and interactive, though it would have been nice to see some more new compositions. Overall, the quality of the soundtrack isn't too hampered by this due to the strength of the music that is in the game. Graphically, the game packs a visual punch and is really aided by the dream-twist mechanic. At the touch of the switch button, the scenery will come alive and transform itself before your very eyes, and changes are made as far as the eye can see. This attention to detail makes the game very fun to interact with, as castles and mountains will grow from the ground in the twisted world, while nature and rivers will flow through the screen in the cute world. The later stages feature some very nice lighting effects, and the textures are clean throughout. The art style is a tad inconsistent between some of the enemies, however, and can range from strangely realistic to overly cartoony.
The graphics also introduce some of the game’s more frustrating points, the most apparent being the lack of distinction between foreground and background. Enemies don’t always stand out from the vivid scenery, leading to deaths that feel cheap. Another issue is the fact that certain hazards come to life when the switch between the worlds is made, and might spring up right beneath you, or remain hidden behind a piece of foreground objects. Although it's not too often this happens, it certainly will at certain moments, which will undoubtedly cause some gritting teeth. But issues aside, it is a rather wonderful little platformer at a great price that brings back the joys that were had some 20 years ago. It might not satisfy the needs of action gamers, but for those who appreciate a classic style platformer with plenty of challenge and responsive controls in the vein of Donkey Kong Country and Genesis-era Sonic the Hedgehog, it’s an essential purchase, with plenty of history attached and an ironic twist of fate by breaking new ground with Steam Greenlight and Kickstarter. |
| Mega Ran and Richie Branson drop The Ghouls 'n Ghosts EP Posted: 03 Nov 2012 06:00 AM PDT
In celebration of Halloween, Phoenix-based rapper Random a.k.a. Mega Ran and Richie "Toonami Is Back Bitches" Branson released the holiday-themed The Ghouls 'n Ghosts EP. It's a collection of song collaborations from various albums plus a new track or two, like the titular "Ghouls 'n Ghosts" that sources that balls-hard Capcom classic. On tap are tracks based on The Walking Dead and Friday the 13th, as well as "Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis," inspired by the famous line in Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy." You'll also find the Castlevania III-sourced "Dracula's Curse," which previously appeared on Ran's Forever Famicom DLC 2. I enjoy both these guys' works -- big surprise there -- so I find this a pretty lovely surprise for the season. If you'd like to show some love as well, the album can be yours for $6.01. Why the extra penny? I have no f*ckin' clue. The Ghouls 'n Ghosts EP [Bandcamp]
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| Feast of Fiction cooks up pipin' hot Zelda pumpkin soup Posted: 03 Nov 2012 05:30 AM PDT
[Header image by Tenu] This week was one of my busiest weeks in recent memory. I was so loaded that I fell way behind on a lot of cool videos and doodads I wanted to share. Bear with me as I play catch-up. Jimmy Wong and Ashley Adams' Feast of Fiction returns to the Zelda universe for a concoction based on Yeto's Soup from Twilight Princess and the Pumpkin Soup from Skyward Sword. The key ingredients are pumpkin (of course) and goat cheese -- thankfully, the duo wisely left a substitute for reekfish out of the recipe. Although, it would have been interesting to see how they would have incorporated seafood in the cuisine. I tried goat cheese for the first time a couple months ago, and it's pretty strong stuff. It's got a very powerful bite, which I found difficult to stomach for long. Maybe the pumpkin flavor complements the cheese in a way that lessens the punch, but I'll remain wary until I can try this recipe for myself. |
| Posted: 03 Nov 2012 05:00 AM PDT Tower Defense games are fairly common these days but despite the rigidity of their design, developers still manage to take the basic tenets of the genre and make some interesting titles. Sanctum, Anomaly: Warzone Earth, and Plants vs. Zombies have all been distinct and enjoyable games. Even Orcs Must Die! and Dungeon Defenders did something unique by adding third-person action to the mix. Shad'O has arrived, attempting to give the tower defense genre a new setting, however, gamers may find it a familiar and all-too-traditional experience.
Shad'O (PC) In Shad'O, you control William, a young boy who is attempting to fend off the forces of forgetfulness and shadows to retrieve his memories before they're lost forever. Aided by his childhood teddy bear, William will travel to different locations of his dreams in an attempt to beat back an ever increasing fog that threatens to cut the link to his past. In each level, there is a memory that the shadows are trying to destroy and that's what he must protect with his army of patchwork tower companions. But as William salvages his memories, is he better to have left some things forgotten? Shad'O brings a few interesting dynamics to the tower defense genre, most notably the fog that envelopes most of the level. At the start of a level, most of the map will be swathed in fog and it's only by placing units that you can disperse some of the gloom. It's an interesting dynamic -- you'll be forced to place units not only for their offensive abilities but also so you can get a better idea of what type of enemies are incoming along the main paths. You can place units near some light beacons at the beginning of a level and from those points, you can expand your forces to reveal the rest of the map. Maintaining these units is vital as it's easy to get swamped with foes after losing advanced positions. However, at its core Shad'O really is fairly traditional tower defense -- enemies attack along a strict path (or paths) and the units you place are all fairly standard (e.g., the shooter, the laser, the area-of-attack, and so on). At the start of the game, you have the three basic offensive units and the primary energy retrieval unit; it's only after the first boss that you'll be given access to more units with further ones unlocked later on. Shad'O isn't great at giving feedback as to what towers are effective against certain enemies. With the necessity to reveal more of the enemy path, expanding quickly with lots of cheap units reaps as much reward as careful placement of more expensive and powerful ones. While units can be upgraded to more powerful and effective versions, you have to unlock the ability to do so after completing a level. You have the option of unlocking up to another two tiers of upgrades or choosing a variety of spells to gain access to instead. Upgrading a unit in battle is as easy and the fact that each upgrade only costs the same as the initial unit cost, it's an appealing route to take. However, many of the spells are invaluable to progression and can greatly swing the tide of a battle in your favor. Indeed, one particular spell that removes any stun effects on your units became the only way I was able to beat the first boss level.
Having a single unlock after completing a level is a big gamble, but a poor choice will stay with you for the rest of the game. Once you complete a level, you're able to replay it in Nightmare Mode which ramps up the difficulty and rewards an extra unlock. These become vital -- stacking spells and upgrading units are a must as the game offers an increasingly steep challenge in later levels. Also available are bonus stages where there is a tweak on the gameplay formula; the reward here is a special permanent bonus or buff. Levels might have a random draw aspect to the units available or a particularly inventive scenario where you have a battlefield full of fully upgraded units but are only able to activate them one at a time. Shad'O never takes advantage of its dream setting to make some really interesting levels; despite some eye-catching backgrounds, the levels are always on a 2D plane and look fairly similar. Likewise, the unit and enemy design are fairly standard. The friendly units are like patchwork toys made up of mismatched felt, but there's some charm to see them fully upgraded with their out-of-place weaponry. The enemy units are blobs of inky shadow with little to tell them apart. When they're bunched up in a crowd, it can be hard to tell what specifically is incoming. The cutscenes are composed of still images with little animation but they convey William's sense of confusion and his gradual understanding of why his memories have been disappearing.
Shado'O offers a solid tower defense experience, albeit one that doesn't take advantage of its unique setting and story. While mechanically sound, despite some frustrations when it comes to unit placement around the fog, it's nothing you probably haven't played before. Tower defense newcomers should head for Defense Grid: The Awakening, but if you're looking for a different style of game in the genre, Shad'O might give you some fun hours. |
| Contest: Tweet to win Zone of the Enders HD! Posted: 03 Nov 2012 04:30 AM PDT [Update: Last day to enter! Get tweeting!] Destructoid is collaborating with our friends at Game Revolution to give away 10 copies of the brand new Zone of the Enders HD Collection! The bundle consists of high-definition remakes of the first two Zone games, including redrawn art, improved audio, and Achievement/Trophy support! The game just hit the shelves this week in the U.S. for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PS Vita, and you can secure yourself a free copy right now! To enter, just follow @Dtoid and @Game_Revolution and tweet the following:
You have until this Saturday, November 3 at 11:59 PM to enter, and you can tweet as many times as you'd like! We have five copies for Xbox 360 and five for PS3 to hand out between the two sites, and the winners will be chosen at random and contacted via Twitter DM, so don't forget to follow @Dtoid and @Game_Revolution! Open to anyone with a U.S. mailing address. Good luck! |
| Chibi-tech releases the insane 8-bit Moe Moe Kyunstep Posted: 03 Nov 2012 03:00 AM PDT Some might be familiar with chibi-tech from prior projects such as Chiptuned Rockman where the ever-impressive chiptuner offered a spotless melodic arrangement of "Roll's Theme" that included dialogue constructed entirely out of NES sounds. If you think that's impressive, however, it pales in comparison to what you're about to hear. As a parting gift to the recent Blipfest Tokyo (which unfortunately is no more), chibi released Moe Moe Kyunstep through bandcamp. This two-part pop/trash/dub-step track is beyond anything you've heard out of the NES, making use of the VRC6 expansion. Of course, the song also features a healthy dose of chibi magic with leads made into chants and dialogue. Check out the release at chibi-tech's bandcamp for a pay-what-you-want price. |
| Posted: 03 Nov 2012 02:00 AM PDT Ah, annual sports iterations. Many of us await them with open arms year after year, and the rest yawn in disapproval. After the massive overhaul with the Predator Technology engine in WWE '12, fans were asking, "What's next?" While it isn't groundbreaking, WWE '13 succeeds in augmenting the experience set forth in '12, with a number of enhancements that'll make a lot of jabronis out there pretty happy.
WWE '13 (PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 [reviewed]) Truth be told, I stopped watching wrestling full time in 2005 (which for me was roughly two days a week), but I never stopped being a casual fan. Throughout the years, I would watch the occasional Pay-Per-View, or catch the latest game iteration. So when I heard WWE '13 would focus heavily on the Attitude Era, I jumped on the opportunity to check it out. If you watched wrestling in the '90s, Attitude Era Mode is a blast -- it's the main draw in WWE '13 in terms of solo campaign play. You'll relive notable moments of the careers of Stone Cold, DX, Mankind, and many more fan favorites. Throughout the chapters Rise of DX, Austin 3:16, the Brothers of Destruction, The Great One, Mankind, and WrestleMania XV, you'll reenact some of the greatest moments in wrestling history. I do mean reenact, as you'll be required to administer certain events that actually happened. But this time instead of WWE '12's format of requiring you to tediously do everything necessary, most of the objectives are bonuses, and you need only complete the primary goal to continue on. Playing through the Attitude Era will also unlock new characters and extras, so you old-school gamers should be happy with all of the potential goals. The mode isn't just thrown in half-cocked, either -- you'll get tons of factoids on loading screens, a neat intro video into the Attitude Era itself, and some pretty awesome "WCW Nitro vs. RAW" ratings that show big moments in WCW history as well as rival television ratings. It's all a great trip down memory lane. While some people may think that it's pandering, Yuke's did such a good job that it would be hard to truly brand it as such.
Actual wrasslin' gameplay is very similar to WWE '12, so if you played the last iteration, you should feel right at home. You can still strike, grapple, Irish whip, and dash as normal. Some enhancements have thankfully been made, most notably the counter system. In previous years, getting the lighting-fast counter timing down was something many people never mastered. Now in WWE '13, there's a clear indicator of when to press the counter button -- and even a tiny prompt which states "too soon" or "too late" to actually teach you how to improve. It sounds small, but counters are such a big part of wrestling games, and it's nice to know that Yuke's not only scorns a button-mashing system, but encourages technical play. You'll also notice that wrestlers have more stamina now, which should preclude super-quick matches like in '12. On the flip side, it is a bit jarring to have to do two, sometimes three specials just to get someone past the "one" count. If you're itching for quicker fights though, you can switch it to a quick mode (as well as a lengthier "epic" stamina setting) before a match.
There are a number of glitches that rear their ugly heads in spite of these advancements, unfortunately -- for the vast majority of my matches, I encountered at least one of them per session. They're not gigantic or game-breaking, but things like missing grapples or glitch-teleport rolling can be troublesome and really annoying. While good ol' JR and Jerry "The King" Lawler call the matches in the Attitude Era, you'll unfortunately have to sub out JR for Michael Cole in everything else. I was never a fan of Cole, and his voicework tends to feel the most phoned in and robotic in this particular case. Speaking of sound quality, the crowd is also particularly bad. The camera is another problem (you should turn it off). It should, in theory, add drama to matches, but it ends up obscuring your view and going haywire more often than not. If you're not one for nostalgia, you'll have to stick to the game's other modes. Thankfully, WWE '13 delivers with pretty much every type of match you've ever seen on TV -- then and now. "I Quit" matches, TLCs, Inferno matches, Tornado Tag, six-way Diva matches -- it's all here and ready to be played.
Creation modes are just as good as ever, and you can spend hours fine tuning a dream wrestler -- whether it's combing through his appearance, moves, intro, or more. There's even Create-An-Arena and Create-A-Belt modes! Your wildest dreams of creating your college professors and pitting them against each other can still be realized. Online play is available, but it's gated behind an online pass with a seven-day free trial. While it's mostly your typical multiplayer affair, the developers have added the ability to put bots into lobbies (YES!), so you don't have to wait hours to find three other players (and have them constantly drop after being impatient) for a tornado tag match, for example. You also don't get XP for "bot/comp stomping" either, so you can't just game the system. Finally, there's plenty of DLC on the way, should you be into that sort of thing. Outside of the addition of Attitude Mode, '13 is very similar to '12, but that isn't a bad thing. Although THQ has a number of issues to fix either by way of a patch or in next year's iteration, people looking for a solid wrestling game shouldn't be disappointed. |
| 20 minutes of the world's most amazing cosplay gathering Posted: 02 Nov 2012 06:00 PM PDT
Dragon*Con is one of the better places to go for some of the best cosplay action around. You got a small preview of this year's costumes thanks to the photos provided to us by Beat Down Boogie, plus their six minute video look. Like last year, the awesome guys at Beat Down made another 20 minute video showing off as much of the cosplay as they could. You'll see people dressed up as characters from Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, Mass Effect, Portal, Halo, and so many other games all throughout the video. Speaking of Mass Effect, you can see Shepard's male voice actor, Mark Meer, and Samara's face model, Rana McAnear, both in the video repping Mass Effect. |
| The Daily Hotness: I wish I could listen to this Posted: 02 Nov 2012 04:59 PM PDT Once again, Jayson brought us a Noteworthy today, this time featuring nothing but Final Fantasy music. Of particular interest to me are the chiptune arrangements from Final Fantasy VII, so you can imagine my chagrin finding out that for the time being the closest I'll come to listening to the album is just reading Jayson's description. Come on, Square Enix. Internet. Do it. Otherwise, Bob, Andy, and Tony wrote up a trio of reviews for games that may be under your radar, the fantastic Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn finale aired, and so much more happened on this fine Friday. Destructoid Original: News: |
| The DTOID Show: Watch_Dogs, Hitman Absolution, & Halo 4 Posted: 02 Nov 2012 04:30 PM PDT Ubisoft released a developer diary for Watch_Dogs which is actually a recruitment video, Hitman: Absolution has a sexy new trailer, Chris's Assassin's Creed Liberation review went up, along with Hamza's Halo 4 review. You know, Halo 4, that game that you can get banned from if you're a jerk. |
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