Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Resident xBox lol
The rumors have proven to be right on the Red Resident Evil 5 Xbox 360 bundle. Today, Microsoft has officially announced the red colored Xbox 360, coming on the launch day of Resident Evil 5.
Here's the details from Microsoft:
"In celebration of the landmark “Resident Evil” franchise coming to Xbox 360 for the first time, Microsoft unveiled today an Xbox 360® Resident Evil Limited Edition Console Bundle. Available the same day “Resident Evil 5” ships to store shelves, Friday, 13th March, Xbox 360 fans will be able to pick up the bundle featuring an exclusive red Xbox 360 from select retailers.
Fans will enjoy the same premium Xbox 360 Elite experience at an even greater value with a copy of “Resident Evil 5,” matching Limited Edition red Wireless Controller, black Xbox 360 Headset, a 120 GB Hard Drive and exclusive premium “Resident Evil 5” theme (download via Xbox LIVE). Supplies are very limited, so “Resident Evil” fans will want to pre-order theirs today."
We'll post places you can pre-order from here shortly!
The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena gets release date and demo announcement
The release date of The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena has been announced by Atari. The North America release date for the Xbox 360
About The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, from Atari:
"Featuring the brand new full-length ‘Assault on Dark Athena’ campaign, an HD remake of the classic ‘Escape from Butcher Bay’ and multiplayer options including the unique Pitch Black mode all on one disk, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena will deliver an incredibly rich experience to gamers following its worldwide release this coming April."
See three new screenshots for The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena here orhere as a fullscreen slideshow.
Visit the newly launched official website here
Monday, February 23, 2009
DS Review - Street Fighter IV
A lot has happened since the release of Street Fighter II. People have grown up, people have jobs, and those same people that once frequented a local 7 Eleven as a child now have a family of their own. It’s been a long time coming, but Capcom finally felt it was time to release Street Fighter IV.
If you know anything about fighting games, you probably know what to expect. Arcade mode, versus, training, challenges, online play (gasp), and a bevy of options to tinker around with. The roster consists of 25 characters, with 16 unlocked at the offset and the other nine hidden away in the depths of arcade mode. The challenge modes consist of three varieties, including time attack, survival, and trials.
The characters from SFII are mostly all here, so nostalgic fans need not fear. There’s also plenty borrowed from SFIII, including meter-management, ex moves, dashes and all the like. This game is like no other fighter you’ve ever played, however. This beast plays by its own rules that you’ll need to adhere to if you want to win.
Focus attacks are a new element in the series, which can be activated by hitting both medium attacks simultaneously. It’ll absorb one incoming attack from an opponent and unleash a powerful (and sometimes unblockable) counterattack. There’s three levels of strength, based on how long you hold the buttons down, and proper use of this technique can set up interesting combos. It’ll take some getting used to, and it’s worth noting that you can play just fine without ever using it, but it’s an added layer of depth for experienced players to enjoy.
Combine all of that good stuff with a slick art style that looks like delicious candy, and a game that plays like your favorite chair sits, and you pretty much have SFIV in a nutshell.
Liked:
Familiarity: While the game is quite different than any other iteration of Street Fighter, anyone who has thrown a hadouken in the past will instantly feel right at home with SFIV. All the basic fundamentals are here, and relatively unchanged.
Presentation: The super-stylized cartoonish design of the characters is quite the eye-catcher, and it’ll stand the test of time. The silly facial expressions characters make when hit (such as bulging eyes) are hilarious. The brush stoke feeling carries through all of the titles and menus, and into actual battle as well. The stages themselves are ridden with animated people doing various things, and in some instances the environment actually reacts to your fighting (such as uppercutting the wing off a plane, or people falling down after an ultra attack).
Fight Engine: The addition of the revenge meter brings a pendulum-swinging element into play, where players that are getting beat on can quickly turn the tides by unleashing their ultra move. The Focus Attacks can be used in numerous ways, including parrying attacks ala SFIII — but they’re also risky at the same time. The full depth of this game has yet to be discovered, and new techniques are being developed by players every day.
Unlock City: There are so many unlockables in this game, your head just might explode. If you’re acompletist like me, you’ll find yourself trying over and over again on the many challenges in the game, just to unlock that next color palette for your favorite character, or to get the great title of “I Like Meat Buns.”
Disliked:
Stage Selection: A minor gripe, but I would have preferred unique stages for each character, and not just a bunch of random locations.
Trial By Fire: There’s a normal and hard trial mode for each character in the game, which is supposed to teach you the inner-workings of said fighter. But all it ends up doing is frustrating you when you can’t understand how to link one move into another, or that that move needs to be canceled, or that your timing is completely off. A better tutorial or maybe a ghost showing you how it looks beforehand would have helped immensely.
Online Structure: While the online works just fine once you get in a match, actually finding one may be a problem. Since the lobby structure is (as of now) limited to two people, when one person creates a ranked or player match lobby it instantly fills up, causing you to have to search about 30 times to actually find a match. Halo-Esq matchmaking and quarter match style lobbies are mysteriously missing, so the arcade experience really isn’t replicated as of now.
Final Word: A new fighting game in 2009, now I’ve seen it all — and it’s brilliant. The art style puts the cherry on top of this delicious sundae, and I recommend it to just about anyone interested in having fun, fighting aficionado or not.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
Because the pacing and story layout of the game can be a bit predictable at times, F.E.A.R. 2’s real scares come from its atmosphere--and this actually works, sometimes. Expect to jump out of your seat on occasion, when your flashlight flickers and ghostly visages surround you, or when staccato orchestral chords signal the emergence of abominations as they break free from their confining cells. Other attempts at scares just seem stale, given that the game's pacing and level design foreshadow these encounters, therefore emasculating the necessary sense of surprise. However, the excellent sound design is never to blame. A variety of creaks and groans gives ebb and flow to the sense of tension, and musical swells and increasingly hectic clatters and clangs will get your pulse pounding when needed. Unfortunately, the visuals don't paint a picture dour enough to match. Some areas are shrouded with moody environmental shadows, in which light and dark contrast to excellent effect. In other levels, the lack of ambient lighting and accompanying silhouettes are noticeable, and the surrounding frights just feel flaccid. F.E.A.R. 2 simply doesn't match its FPS peers from a technical perspective, so though it looks good, the simple textures, inconsistent shadows, and occasional clipping and other glitches detract from the atmosphere.
The level design also falls victim to a fair bit of predictability, though to F.E.A.R. 2's credit, you'll break away from the endless office corridors of the original and journey through a greater variety of environments. These areas are usually just as claustrophobic, but they won't often deliver that spine-tingling fear of the specters lurking beyond the reach of your flashlight. Trekking through the rubble of decaying city streets is a good change of pace, but the ultraconvenient manner in which the debris holds you to your narrow path is a familiar design ploy. Similarly, there's no more excitement to be found in F.E.A.R. 2's same-old subway than that of any other game. It's at its best when it leaves these stale tropes behind and builds on its roots as a corridor shooter, such as in a nail-biting sojourn through the halls of an elementary school that hides unspeakable horrors. Entering a dusky music classroom to find a hideous mutant pounding on the keys of a piano with abandon is a singular moment, and the ensuing battles are ripe and exhilarating reminders of the series' explosive origins.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Afro Samurai
Follow Afro Samurai as he fights to become the number one warrior, a title currently held by Justice, the man who killed Afro’s father when he was a child. The game follows the plot of the original series with added material and background for fans and new comers alike. Blood is beautifully awesome in this hip hop infused action adventure as Samuel L. Jackson reprises his role as Afro and Ninja Ninja. A striking art style gives Afro Samurai a unique look and feel across animated open environments as he wages war against his adversaries to become number one. Using an innovative gameplay system, enemy AI (artificial intelligence for the gamer challenge) is affected by the beat of the musical score overseen and inspired by RZA of Wu-Tang Clan fame and composed and produced by Howard Drossin. These dynamic battles ensure stylized encounters throughout the game that affect the overall tone of gameplay. Slice and dismember opponents as Afro acrobatically leaps from one location to the next, interacting with anything and everything in the environment to help him on his journey. [Namco Bandai Games]
DropStyle rates this game over all 7.4 out of 10. Check out this vid (Not From a DropStyle Gamer) that was sumited , that shows off the first stage of the game....enjoy
