According to the Press Release, at SXSW CEO Michael Wilford played the first 10 minutes of the game to a crowd of onlookers. They will be showing the game play again at PAX East, and I will do my darnd-est to see this in action while we are there and give you guys more information. Like Splosion Man, before it Comic Jumper is zany and fast paced. Your adventure consist in a comic book setting with your hero and mine Captain Smiley twarting criminals like Dr. Winklemeyer and Smiley’s arch-nemesis Brad.

Video of the game will go up soon, most likely tonight. But, for now, enjoy the screenshots provided by Twisted Pixel, after the break.

No release date or pricing yet for this game. If you want to keep up contact follow@mrwilford on Twitter, check their site, or stay tuned with us to get an inside scoop.

 

Gameplay
Greed Corp is a land grab game that plays out on hexagonal boards. As resources are harvested the ground beneath you begins to crumble. Stay and harvesting in one place too long will eventually lead to the ground falling apart and units lost. Maps are presented to the player as hexagonal tiles of different heights, with the whole of the battlefield floating over a thick mist. Your objective is always to be the last man standing. A faction is eliminated when all their building and units are destroyed. The problem I have found is that you never know who is winning. I have had several games where I have the most units or feel I am taking the enemy out only to lose a few rounds later. The tutorial also doesn’t do a great job of explaining what it is you are suppose to be doing. The tutorial presents you with a game and tells you what moves to make to win, but never explains why you are making those moves. This made the learning curve a bit steep as I started playing the single player campaign. The game only offers 5 different units to use to battle with. This might seem like it would be lacking but the 5 units are balanced well and provide a lot of strategy when playing. Greed Corp also features a multiplayer if you are looking to challenge yourself against another human player.  I managed to get in a few games online and it seemed the people I played against were having a similar experience to mine. We all had the basic idea down but really weren’t sure of what strategy to use against each other. I did have a lot of fun playing online but I feel the overall experience would have been better if the tutorial had offered more.

Graphics/Sound
The graphics and sound of the game are both well done. The art style is a very colorful steam-punk type look. Each unit features a lot of moving parts and effects to fit the steam-punk style. The sounds for each unit really make it feel like they are destroying the land around them. The music feels like a techno take on 1960’s music. During a game it feels very appropriate but the music during the menus does get a little annoying at time. W!Games has said this is the first in a series of game in their Mistbound universe. I hope they continue to stick with a similar style for future titles.

Overall
If you are a fan of either turn based strategy games or board games, you should check out Greed Corp. Giving the choice to either harvest everything you have or go take everything from your opponent adds a nice touch to strategy game formula. The single player will offer plenty of hours of fun and the option to go online just adds to the value. Greed Corp is 800MSP and  available now on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Way back when I used to watch the Alien and Predator Movies. They were something that was just fun to watch and pretty entertaining. After Aliens 3 I pretty much lost most interest in the Movie Franchise and was almost exclusively a PC Gamer. My buddy was a bigger fan then I and told me I just need to pick up Alien vs Predator for the PC. I went ahead and did it and pretty much had a blast. For it’s time it was pretty impressive. Well it’s a new era in the FPS genre and there is a new Alien vs Predator. With games like Dead Space and Bioshock the bar for the FPS has certainly been placed pretty high. How does the new game compare to existing FPS.

Gameplay

If you are unfamiliar with AVP you get to select from 3 races. The Alien, Predator and Marines (Humans). Each race has it’s own unique gameplay mechanic. Aliens are super fast and can climb on everything, Marines are well rounded and the Predator are super strong.

Marines

I started the game off as a Marine. Your character is a Rookie going for his first flight. Much like most rookies in the newer Next Gen Games you are the silent type. The game is a tad difficult to just pick up and play, the control scheme works around the concept of Melee combat. For an FPS this is a little strange to get used to. Generally Melee is used as a spice. Something you don’t rely to heavily on but is fun to use. For the Marine in particular RB is used for Melee while LB + RB is used to block and attack. When you block the attack the Enemy is stunned for a minute and you can usually finish them off. While the Melee is an interesting concept, the final product seems a bit chaotic. It works fine when it’s 1 on 1 but Aliens tend to hunt in packs. This tends to usually end in what you would call a cluster $%^@! I really did like the use of Flares in the game. Flares are used to light areas that it’s difficult to see in. This really added to the environment. Though it seems you have a unlimited amounts of flares. My biggest complaint about the game was the lack of limited resources. That generally adds a bit of tension in the game. Your pistol has unlimited ammo and it’s not to difficult to kill an alien.

Aliens

The Alien was probably the campaign that I enjoyed the most. The Story plot for the Alien was pretty interesting and actually developed a pretty unique character. AVP just seems to suffer with a really bad control scheme. Aliens can climb on just about every surface in order to transition from wall to floor you have to hold RT. There is a way to turn that off and just do auto transitions. I tried to do this but became disoriented pretty quickly. Auto Transitions work pretty well in corridors but in the jungle environments it becomes very confusing. The overall concept for Melee combat continues with the Alien. For the Alien LB is reserved for a strong attack while RB is for Light Attack, LB+RB again is Block. To break a block you use a strong attack, which takes longer to perform. I found I rarely used the Melee combat a relied heavily on the Grab technique. Essentially to perform the Grab you need to sneak up on a Human. Or you can lure the human out by making your patent hiss noise. Now when you grab a person you have to watch a 3 sec kill move. It was kinda fun at first but got very tedious. Each kill then took about 3 secs each and while your performing a kill you can be shot. So make sure you do it stealth like with no one else around.

Predator

Out of all the characters I felt the Predator was the most difficult to use. Starting with a very confusing HUD . The HUD displays your health ammo and health packs. Though it’s done in Predator Language so it doesn’t exactly make sense just looking at it. Eventually you do get used to it but for the first hour of game play I kept second guessing myself. Again the Melee combat transitions over though you do have a variety of weapons. Most weapons require you charge them in order to use. You very limited charges but can replenish them by located and draining power nodes. Though they seem to be rather sparse. I found this to be a interesting gaming choice considering just how much unlimited resources the Marines had. This makes you rely on your Melee combat. Again it works the same as the Alien with LB being Strong Attack and RB being light attack. You also have the Grab Attacks but you usually have to lure a person out. This is done by taunting a character. To do this you first select the character then tell them where to go. It doesn’t always seem to work but it’s possible. You also have the ability to do Focus Jumps which are very long distance jumps. The Predator also has Invisibility though it becomes disabled once you try to kill someone or walk in water. The controls work okay with limited amounts of baddies but again once you get to many it becomes a game of luck. The story for the Predator seemed about the worst out of all 3.

Graphics

This was one of the areas where the game shines. The graphics are stunning and they really get the whole AVP environments down. There is a variety of lighting effects that really add to the atmosphere. My favorite was the night club scene where as a Marine you fight Aliens with strobes on and some club music. You can barely hear the aliens coming and seeing them becomes difficult.

Sound

The environment sounds were excellent. Though the voices became a little repetitive. This was evident when playing the Alien and attempting to pic off a Marine. “Stay alert Marines stay Frosty!” The cut scenes though had pretty decent voice acting though the writing was a little bland. My favorite sound effect were of the chains. Much like the Alien movie they had chains draping from the ceiling with it’s patent SFX.

Overall

The game leaves a lot to be desired. With the current Next Gen FPS AVP feels a little outdated. It’s certainly not the worst FPS I’ve played, though the controls are a little difficult to get used to.

But Darksiders is among those games that take it a bit too far. Its protagonist War is a muscle-bound brute clad in spiked bits from three separate suits of armor, carrying a sword the size of some small tree trunks and inlaid with skulls all the way to the tip. (Incidentally, he looks eerily similar to Arthas Menethil, but whether this makes him sillier or cooler is up to you.) He tromps through the burnt-out wreckage of long-dead human civilization, never speaking above a growl, massacring anything that challenges him- and quite a lot seems to think it can beat the embodiment of War in a fight, from the warlike angels of not!Heaven to the victorious demons of not!Hell now infesting the dead Earth.

NEEDS MORE SKULLS

Why? War was called down on a phony Apocalypse, and as a result the kingdom of Man is now so much ash. His “Charred Council” (really?) superiors aren’t too happy with him for that, so they send him down to bring justice to the perpetrators, apparently for the principle of the thing, since it’s not like the Earth can be restored or the balance repaired with the entirety of humanity dead and demons coming out the woodwork. If the world’s going to end, Apocalypse Form 27-B Page 3 Field 7 had better be filled out first!

There’s a word for stories like this, and that word, coined by fans of ultra-dystopian sci-fi franchise Warhammer 40,000, is grimdark. (For maximum effect grimdark should be growled one full octave below the rest of the sentence. If it sounds ridiculous, it’s supposed to.)

Grimdark is heavy metal without the ironic joie de vivre. Founded in an appreciation for grim and often gothic aesthetics, badass characters, and cynical, sometimes dystopian stories, this staple of 90s-era comic books applies these storytelling elements haphazardly, not necessarily for narrative coherence so much as aesthetic extremity. They often rely on aggressive, even nihilistic caricatures with simple motivations and a regular application of Murphy’s Law bordering on the diabolical. The defining traits of grimdark stories are grandiose scale and a callously cynical tone, painting gray-and-black dilemmas where idealism is useless if not actively harmful and innocents die in droves without comment.

Like many other grimdark tales, Darksiders is actually a fairly ordinary game beneath its coat of black paint and blood, and despite my misgivings it’s not a bad game by any means. A competently enjoyable Zelda clone stealing liberally from fellow grimdark brawler God of War, it’s very similar to any number of other heroic narratives- the mighty protagonist adventures across the land, exploring ancient ruins and battling evil wherever he goes. That the landscape consists of burnt-out wreckage populated by savage demons and moaning, withered undead is basically window dressing; grimdark heroes such as War or Kratos are too manly to waste time on emoting when there’s killing to be done. And lordy, is there killing to do in games like these: limbs and body parts pirouette through the air in slow motion; protagonists crush their victims’ bodies with a single clench of their mighty hands.

You see that, Camera? YOU'RE NEXT! RARGH!

Not all games need to be soul-stirring epics, pondering the emotional weight and spiritual pollution of combat and desolation. Sometimes the player just wants to wreck things, and for all its narrative flaws, this aesthetic can also yield truly demented character designs, weapons, and vistas unchecked by sanity, common sense, or restraint.

Another advantage to grimdark stories is the escapist potential for the audience. Bombastic, charismatic villains in the Darth Vader or Doctor Doom mold have always been popular for their larger-than-life villainy and their grandiose schemes. Kratos would shame these comparatively civilized antagonists with his monstrous acts, and War, though not evil, shares their drive, their confidence, and their enormous might. No one tells a protagonist in such stories to waste time on crises of conscience or to submit to authorities greater than themselves.

But this excess of negativity has its price. The long-term appeal of grimdark is mostly superficial. The most chilling dystopias and the most horrifying surroundings require a counterweight, even a passive one, to strike a chord in the audience. Omnipresent, superficial horror and misery can become banal. A world without heroes is as tedious as a world where the heroes are utterly unchallenged- and few protagonists in such stories really qualify for heroism, much less when their attempts to resolve the conflict are doomed to failure. War, by the standards of his genre, is actually fairly decent, even though that may be because he rarely speaks much.

See my horse? He eats broken dreams.

Furthermore, grimdark’s fixation on the brutal and the blasted are often used as a smokescreen to hide relatively ordinary components. Is using skulls as keys and the souls of the dead as currency really any more exciting than using metal keys and coins for the same purpose? Is a climactic battle necessarily any more satisfactory because the “hero” dispatched their victim with eye-widening sadism? Is a female character necessarily sexier for her thrusting her body into the camera as blatantly as possible? And does a blasted world necessarily feel any more immersive for its nihilism? Often (though not always by any means) the answer is no.

Darksiders is not an extreme example of this problematic fad- that stained crown still goes to Warhammer 40,000- and is arguably far more innocuous in its negativity than the inexplicably popular, horribly violent God of War series. (I’ll save my commentary on that for another day.) Though not ground-breaking in any way, it’s occasionally epic and quite playable.

It is, however, emblematic of a trend: another perfectly decent game with an intriguing premise handicapped by its own desperate need to be seen as EXTREEEEEEME through the copious application of every “edgy” element a frustrated teen or young adult could throw in. Ironically, in its quest to achieve bleak maturity, Darksiders and games like it only succeed in backsliding into adolescence.

In 2008, EA launched a new IP from Visceral Studios: Dead Space. The game delivered the ultimate in psychological thrills and gruesome action. A bold and bloody sci-fi survival horror game set 400 years in the future, Dead Space stunned and scared players, won critical acclaim, and spawned the 2009 prequel: Dead Space Extraction. The Dead Space universe runs deep, and as gamers find themselves clamoring for more, Dead Space comics, animated features and figures have been released. This talk will go behind the scenes on the making of Dead Space, bring players up to speed on the Dead Space universe, and prepare them for what’s to come in the recently announced Dead Space 2.  Panelists Include: Rich Briggs [Producer, EA], Ian Milham [Art Director, EA], Steve Papoutsis [Executive Producer, EA].

Meet the Protagonist: Zack Fair

Look, I already know what you’re going to have to say, so you don’t have to say it. Crisis Core IS NOT a retro game. In fact, the game was released in 2007 in Japan and 2008 here in the US, so it isn’t even borderline retro. However, following my FFVII review, my plan was to take a crack at possibly the most polarizing of Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy VIII. Unfortunately, Final Fantasy VII left me wanting more, possibly due to the game being so overhyped and so I decided to break out my copy of Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, which I had put on hold after losing my data when my old PSP was stolen. And, finally having Final Fantasy VII under my belt, I felt it was finally time to go through it once more and finish what I started. So, consider this a supplement to my Final Fantasy VII review as I delve further into the mythology of the world of Final Fantasy VII.

Although most Final Fantasy games tend to be stand-alone, there have been a few exceptions to the rule. In 2003, Square Enix decided to expand Final Fantasy X with a sequel, Final Fantasy X-2 and, luckily, or not, depending on how you may feel about it, it would not be the last direct FF sequel/spin-off released. When the time came to expand into sequel territory, Final Fantasy VII was ultimately chosen due to its status as one of the most popular Final Fantasy games in series. In 2004, the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series launched with the Japan-only mobile phone game, Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-, also prequel to the original game, paving the way for entries such as Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-, both sequels, which pick up where the game left off. The most recent entry in the Compilation series, not counting Advent Children Complete, is Crisis Core, a prequel focused around former Shrina SOLDIER 1^st Class Zack Fair and the events leading up to Final Fantasy VII.

Story

I’m not sure if it has to do with the fact that I had already played through a good portion of the game before playing Final Fantasy VII or the fact that everyone and their mother was telling just how amazing FFVII was, but I found Crisis Core’s storyline to be much more fulfilling. Unlike Final Fantasy VII, which I criticized for that lack of character development that Sephiroth was given, Crisis Core’s overall villain, Genesis Rhapsodos is a very well defined character. Aside from his desertion of SOLDIER, his true intentions are kept a mystery for most of the game, though a good deal of it revolves around LOVELESS, an original poem from the FFVII world that Genesis is quite fond of and quotes as often as possible throughout the game. Though it may seem like Genesis is just spouting nonsense when he quotes LOVELESS, but it has more to do with his plan than you might think. But, thankfully, I won’t spoil it. Unlike Sephiroth, whose role in Final Fantasy VII was mostly passive, Genesis is very involved in the game’s events.

Genesis (right), Angeal (left), and Sephiroth (obvious) spar in a flashback.

Speaking of Sephiroth, while I’ve already admitted that I consider him a boring villain, Crisis Core really makes up for that. Since the game revolves around the events leading up to Final Fantasy VII, the incident at Nibelheim, where Sephiroth’s infamous descent into madness occurs, is also visited, but as it happens late in the game, you spend a lot of time with a heroic Sephiroth. To be honest, it was a bit odd at first, but you actually can’t help but like him as a character. Here, he isn’t the boring, one-dimensional villain with dreams of becoming a god. No, in Crisis Core, you actually see Sephiroth as a person, who generally seems to care about what’s going on with the other characters, including Genesis, whom he was acquainted with. Accompanying Zack on some of his missions, the two of them actually seem to bond and confide in each other. Again, if you’ve played Final Fantasy VII, having Sephiroth act this way may seem odd, but it helps make him a much better character and his eventual Face Heel Turn in Nibelheim becomes all the more tragic as a result.

Sephiroth's iconic burning of Nibelheim recreated.

Zack is also aided by several other characters along the way, such as his mentor and original owner of the Buster Sword, which would eventually come into Cloud Strife’s possession, Angeal Hewley. Angeal’s story is also rather complex, as it intertwines heavily with Genesis’ plot, the two of them having been rather close. Also aiding him are Tseng and Cissnei, two members of the Turks, a special organization within Shinra that is kind of like the FBI, which Zack becomes somewhat close to throughout the course of the game. Also making an appearance are both a younger Cloud Strife, who at the time of the game is a somewhat shy, unconfident Shinra Infantryman hoping to join SOLDIER, and Aerith Gainsborough, the last of a race known as the Cetra or Ancients, whose relationship with Zack, alluded to in the original Final Fantasy VII, becomes a prominent part of the story. Thankfully, the love story doesn’t become the entire focus of the story.

If there is one major fault I found within the story, it’s some of the slower parts. While it may be a nice change of pace for some, it somewhat breaks the flow of the story. The game is divided into several chapters and, after one chapter has reached its climax, the following chapter usually starts off a bit calm and slow. It’s not a horrible thing, but sometimes it feels too slow, like the part where you have to build Aerith a flower wagon. Still, overall, the story is rather solid. It makes for a good prequel, though, in a way, it’s also sort of a retcon, slightly going against a few things that were established in Final Fantasy VII, though not by much.

Gameplay

Unlike Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core takes a step away from the standard turn-based combat system of old, utilizing instead a real-time combat system. Also, unlike most Final Fantasy games, you have no additional party members, controlling only Zack. The Materia system from FFVII does return, but in an altered form that’s somewhat different than in the original. While you have the standard materia, such as Fire, Blizzard, etc., you also have the option to fuse materia, resulting in things such as Thundara Blade, or other unique materia combinations. Also, since you only use two different weapons throughout the course of the game, you tend to have a set number of materia slots, starting with four and gaining two more as part of the story, but that’s pretty much all you get. In addition, you have two accessory slots to add equipment, with some providing you with stat boosts and/or resistance to status ailments, such as the standard Poison or Silence.

Your standard equipment screen.

The combat itself is fairly intuitive. When an enemy appears, you enter combat mode and the screen changes slightly, with a small command menu appearing on the lower right hand side of your screen, which allows you to choose between regular attack, your materia, and your items, such as healing potions. On the left side of the screen are you Hit Points (HP), your overall health, Magic Points (MP), which enables you to use green magic materia, and Ability Points (AP), which allows you to block, dodge, and use yellow materia, along with what appears to be a series of three rotating images, which resembles a slot machine. That’s the DMW (Digital Mind Wave), which is essentially your limit system in the game, and a very important part of the gameplay.

During combat, the DMW rotates based on how much SP you have. SP is collected through out the game by defeating monsters or converting unused material to SP. Whenever the DMW spins, it uses 10 SP. Like a slot machine, the DMW spins, showing off three images and three numbers. Certain number combinations grant you beneficial effects, such as no MP cost for magic or temporary invincibility. When two of the three slots stop spinning and reveal the same character image, it begins “Modulating Phase,” in which the third slot slowly stops. If the character image matches the other two, then you enter into that character’s limit break, such as Sephiroth’s Octoslash or Cloud’s Meteor Shot. Also, the numbers on the slots range from 1-7 and their effects change while Modulating Phase. If two of the same number from 1-6 appears, the materia in that slot will level up. If three of the same number appears, the materia in that slot will go up two levels. And, if you get a triple 7, then you level up. So a bit of luck is involved. Now, while the only way to level up is through the DMW, it doesn’t mean that it is all based on luck. There is a method to leveling up that is not seen by the player, including a hidden experience counter that is unseen by the character. That said, experience points only increase the chances that you’ll level up, and sometimes, you’ll level up multiple times back-to-back.

A successful DMW spin, summoning Bahamut and a Level Up.

Now, despite the “Luck” part of it, I really like the DMW system. Essentially, it is based on Zack’s memories and, as you encounter key characters in the game, they are added to the DMW and you gain their limit. In particular, the DMW system winds up playing a very big role in the game’s finale and its implementation is rather amazing. However, the DMW system is rather flawed. As I said before, while EXP increases your chances to level, you sometimes go quite awhile before leveling up, or you level up too quickly. Also, while you can go out of your way and collect Summon Materia, such as Ifrit, Bahamut, and Odin, all the materia does is add them to your DMW, meaning you can’t use summons unless the game itself tells you that you can, making the work that you do to obtain Summon Materia rather unrewarding unless you’re really lucky. Also, since materia leveling also relies on the DMW, it means that you’ll sometimes wind up with low-level materia. Still, it’s a rather interesting system, especially when certain events heighten Zack’s emotions. When the message “Heightened Emotions have Affected the DMW” is displayed, you’re much more likely to receive a certain character’s limit break due to Zack’s memories of and emotions towards that specific person. So, while the DMW system isn’t perfect, it’s a rather interesting system.

In addition to the main story campaign, which can last a good 15 hours, you’re presented with a few side-quests and bonus missions, which are accessible from points. Completing in about 22 hours, I had only completed about 15% of the side missions, which just goes to show how many there really are. Completing missions gives you different bonuses you don’t normally come across in the main game, such as new summon materia and bosses not normally encountered in the game (which includes the standard “Superboss,” something found in most Final Fantasy games). Missions are a great way to gain experience to level up, but if you’re playing on normal mode, it’s not really necessary. While the level cap for the game is the standard level 99, I beat the game at a mere level 37 with very little effort, so the game really isn’t all that difficult and the level grinding most would accomplish from the missions isn’t all that vital unless you’re playing on hard difficulty. Still, the game is rather fun Action RPG, which is definitely a step up from Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- and its abysmal third-person shooter gameplay.

Visuals

The graphics for Crisis Core were something that really wowed me. The gameplay graphics themselves are fairly close to what you would find on the PS2, and the CGI cutscenes included in the game are rather impressive, similar, if not better than the graphics from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. As is standard, most of the scenes in the game are rendered using the in game engine, with the CGI scenes sprinkled about for some of the more important scenes. Still, the game is just a delight to watch as well as play, with well-animated scenes that really help to drive the story.

A cutscene rendered in the in-game engine.

Sound

Another fault with Crisis Core is the voice acting. It’s not really much of a complaint, since a majority of the voice acting is actual really superb, but there are definitely some awkward moments with the dialogue that can make you want to laugh. Still, Rick Gomez does an amazing job in voicing Zack, including some of the more emotional scenes (one of my favorite moments is when he yells “What happened to honor?!”). George Newbern returns as Sephiroth, who has voiced the character since the Advent Children film. His delivery of Sephiroth’s lines with a nonchalant, almost dismissive tone that you would expect from him is great, but there are definitely more than a few lines that sound rather forced. Genesis and Angeal’s voice actors definitely deliver a great performance, and Steve Burton returns as Cloud, managing to deliver a younger, slightly more fragile version of the character. Mena Suvari, who voiced Aerith in Advent Children, does not return however, replaced by Andrea Bowen, who’s cheery, upbeat portrayal of the character is rather welcome, especially due to how much screen time Aerith is given. Overall, the voice cast does a pretty good job.

The music is definitely an excellent part of the game, with the main theme being one of my favorites. And, while certain songs from the original game are remixed, such as the Turks’ theme or the original battle music, which appears during certain scenes, some of the music is a bit annoying, like the generic rock tracks that play during most random monster encounters. Also, aside from being played at the end of side-missions, the Final Fantasy Victory Fanfare is noticeably absent, which comes as a big disappointment when you win your first battle and don’t hear it play. Overall, the soundtrack is really good, with a few exceptions, and many tracks definitely help enhance the experience, especially during the more emotional scenes.

Overall

Crisis Core was definitely an enjoyable experience for me. It’ story really helps to supplement the events of Final Fantasy VII, even going as far as making one appreciate its story even more. As I said, while Sephiroth was rather boring in Final Fantasy VII, his story arc in Crisis Core makes him a much more likable character, adding a lot more substance that wasn’t really present in the original game. The gameplay has its flaws, but overall, this is one game that Final Fantasy VII in general should not skip over, especially those that are apprehensive after playing the rather bad Dirge of Cerberus.

So begins Blue Toad Murder Files, an upcoming independent game exclusive to the Playstation Network. Published by Relentless Software, this fusion of party game-trivial pursuit, and whodunit mystery will release its first three episodes in late March.

Blue Toad Murder Files is more or less a linear party game, similar to those such as Mario Party, with trivia and brain-teasers in place of twitch-based minigames. Players take on the role of quintessentially quirky British detectives hot on the chase- which is to say they put their tea down carefully before ambling along in pursuit. Meanwhile, a posh and somewhat snarky narrator sets the scene, cheering every success and mocking every failure with equal wry enthusiasm, and paying very little attention to the fourth wall.

“It’s inspired by Agatha Christie,” said Jade Tidy, the game’s producer. “You know, very gentlemanly mysteries, with a pipe and a cup of tea.”

Up to four players move about the village, questioning a colorful assortment of characters about motives and events. Each episode stands on its own, but also fits into an overarching conspiracy plot. Puzzles range from math-based riddles and challenges to mix-and-match challenges, but solving the central mystery takes close attention to detail and clues and a good memory. Character designs are simple but expressive, and a single voice actor handles the entire cast of characters with surprising variety. The soundtrack is goofy, respectable, and often hammy.

Blue Toad Murder Files is the first self-published game for Relentless Software. The Britain-based publisher’s previous game, Buzz, sold 8 million copies.

 

Gameplay

The campaign allows you to experience 24 action packed missions playing as both the Allied and Central armies. Your goal on each map is to defend your toy box from wave after wave of oncoming troops and vehicles. This is done by building different defensive structures on specific build sites. Each map has a set number of areas where you can place your defensive structures, so you have to chose wisely. To be able to build you have to be able to afford the construction, and money is earned from every kill. The main feature that sets this apart from other tower defense games is the ability to control of any structure and take out the enemies on your own. You are able to zoom-in to the weapon’s point of view, use the left stick to aim and the right to fire. As you progress you also gain the chance to pilot airplanes and drive tanks as well. The easier difficulty provides a lot of fun for the casual player. As you increase the difficulty the game presents you with a real challenge. When set to the hardest difficulty, the towers no longer fire on their own. This means you know have to be able to bounce around to each one in order to take out the enemy. The bosses in this game are larger toys in many forms such as a huge tank, a railroad gun, and a zeppelin aircraft. Once the campaign has been completed, you then unlock the survival mode where you fight against countless waves of enemy toys desperately trying to defeat you. Also included is a two-player versus mode. This is playable locally in split screen or online. Here, each side sends waves of soldiers at the opponent with the Y button, but they also have to build units in order to defend their toy box from the waves being sent by the opponent. Toy Soldiers offers a lot of different options to players and should provide hours of entertainment.

Graphics/Sound

The game stays true to its name and provides a toy like feel to all the models. The environment looks and feels like a WWI recreation someone would have in their basement. The backdrops for each level are painted on a piece of wood and certain areas are open so that you can see the rest of the room. The character animations are one of my favorite parts of the game. The soldiers have a look similar to the plastic toys but feature exaggerated animations. This really adds a lot of fun to the feel of the game. Seeing a soldier firing a gun at enemies while bouncing around in the seat was a nice touch. The sound effects are done well and help add to the feel of the game. While getting close to what war might sound like they also manage to keep the effects close to what plastic figures exploding would sound like. The music selection was excellent. Period specific music plays during loading and helps carry the WWI feel into the game.

Overall

Toy Soldiers is the best tower defense game on XBLA. It takes a genre that over time has continued to grow stale and brought new life to it. There were plenty of times that I was playing and never even thought it was a tower defense game. If you have been a bit skeptical about picking this up, at least give the demo a try. This is an excellent XBLA release and already one of my favorite games this year. Toy Soldiers is available now for 1200 MS Points.

]]> http://pixelatedgeek.com/2010/03/indie-review-toy-soldiers/feed/ 0 http://pixelatedgeek.com/2010/03/metroid-other-m-trailer/ http://pixelatedgeek.com/2010/03/metroid-other-m-trailer/#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:42:57 +0000 Justin http://pixelatedgeek.com/?p=19747 Recently the interwebs got a hold of a new Trailer for Metroid: “Other M”. Which due to the lack of a suit around our heroine, leads me to believe that the story might be based around Samus and her training. Which is cool.  Check out the video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sadly though two problem could ruin this.

1.) Team Ninja is behind this title. Which isn’t a problem, I like the games that they have put out. But, will it be the same style of play experience that we have grown to know and love with our widdle bounty hunter? I’m hopeful.

A point to note, these are the guys that put out both Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive, and Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball so the chances of breast physics is astronomical.

2.) Dame Judy Dench has not made a public statement stating if she will or will not be taking on the role of M. We can all remember he hesitation to get back into virtual acting after her role in the failed video game The Importance of Being Earnest 2: World Tour Beat.

In about twenty-four days, Rett, Justin, and I will be sojourning north to Bean Town to witness quite possibly the greatest thing that will ever happen to us: a large congregation of intelligent people proving they’re intelligent by talking about intelligent stuff… like, um, you know, uh, video games and stuff.  IN ALL SERIOUSNESS, though, PAX East is going to be a riot.  As the resident table-top guy, I am excited to note the inclusion of many panels at the expo that concern live gaming and RPGs.  I thought I’d give a little preview of the panels as well as my extremely valuable thoughts* on each.  As the expo is pretty huge, I’ll split this post up over two weeks to give you the full flavor.

*The thoughts of Dr. DM are equivalent to roughly one-one-millionth of a Turkish lire.