Review: Fairytale Fights

Posted on October 27, 2009 by geelw

Platform: PS3/Xbox 360

Developer: Playlogic Game Studios

Publisher: Playlogic

# of Players: 1 – 4

Rating: M (Mature)

After a long development cycle it’s finally here, it’s pretty darn bloody and it’s a hack ‘n slash fan’s dream game. That is, provided your dreams are candy-colored and packed with mutated puppets dishing out damage on an epic, nasty scale. Fairytale Fights packs in its entire running time with tons of humor plus more gallons of blood and severed limbs than you’d find in certain zombie-killing franchises. Although the game probably isn’t going to impress those jaded players looking for total perfection and “innovation” seeping out of every corner, it’s got more than enough style to keep those who love the sub-genre playing ’til the cows come home. As a single-player arcade-style experience, it’s supremely hysterical, but can feel a bit lonely after a few hours. However, with up to three friends, the game is a complete blast to play – provided everyone’s platforming skills are up to the game’s deathtraps and occasionally brutal boss battles.

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Review: Nostalgia (Nintendo DS)

Posted on October 27, 2009 by geelw

Platform: Nintendo DS/DSi

Developer: Matrix Software

Publisher: Ignition

# of Players: 1

Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10+)

Official Site

Score: A

An excellent game for entry level players or seasoned JRPG veterans who can recall the “good old days” with a wistful smile, Nostalgia is one of the best games in the genre this year. The Matrix Software developed Tecmo/RED co-produced project, some ten years in the making, just feels right from the moment you start playing and it only gets better as the hours zoom by. What makes the game so outstanding are the combination of well-worn genre elements spiced up by a rewarding skills-based battle system and a huge game world absolutely packed with stuff to do and secrets to uncover. The game rarely misses a note throughout and despite a few minor flaws can easily stand up to some of today’s console JRPGs in terms of bang for the buck.

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Armored Core 3 Portable Hits PSP As PSN DLC Only

Posted on October 24, 2009 by geelw

From FromSoft, with Love (BOOM!), Department: PSP and PSP go owners can do the happy dance while folks who want their retail UMDs are crying in their root beers. An all new PSP Armored Core game is here and ready to go over the PlayStation Network, so drop the fifteen clams on this one and get with the customizing and mecha blasting action, whydontcha? Now, I’m hoping that FromSoftware sees fit to localize and release King’s Field Additional I and II in the US via this method one of these days (especially with Demon’s Souls blowing up the charts all over the map)…

Press release and images below:

FromSoftware Inc. today announced that Armored Core® 3 Portable, the latest installment in its popular mecha action game series, will be available for download on the North American PlayStation®Network on October 22, 2009. The Armored Core franchise has sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide, and the original Armored Core 3 for PlayStation®2 has stood the test of time as a fan favorite.

In Armored Core 3 Portable, players battle as members of the mercenary organization “Raven,” piloting customizable mecha Armored Core (AC) units. The ACs are customizable with different weapons and machine parts that can be reconfigured as necessary to complete a variety of combat-intensive missions.

Features:

* Over 50 action-packed missions
* Enhanced menu interface and in-game visibility
* Pilot a fully customizable AC unit, configuring weapons, parts, armor color and emblems
* Over 200 parts available to assemble and create your own machine, including parts from the previous games in the series
* PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) Ad Hoc Network support; easily battle up to four friends using a wireless connection
* Challenge opponents nationwide over the Ad Hoc Party on PlayStation®3 (PS3™)
* A new opponent from the Japanese Armored Core novel
* Future-proof data can be saved and transferred to future Armored Core PSP titles

Armored Core 3 Portable is rated T for Teen (Violence) by the ESRB, and has a purchase price of $14.99.

Arc Rise Fantasia Headed to Wii From Ignition & Marvelous in 2010

Posted on October 23, 2009 by geelw

Looks as if the Wii is getting another exclusive RPG and a mighty fine-looking one at that. Ignition Entertainment and Marvelous are bringing imageepoch’s epic Arc Rise Fantasia to the US next year. Here’s a quick look at some mostly character-centric screens (and yes, we’d like more, please!):

We’ll have more on Arc Rise Fantasia as news comes in.

Update: Prison Break – New Screens

Posted on October 22, 2009 by geelw

Deep Silver and Zootfly’s in development console game based on the defunct Fox TV show is still rolling along nicely and looking quite good. Here’s a peek at a few more screens showing off some nice character models and well-rendered environments. All it needs is to get finished and be fun to play and I’m happy.

Oh… Shipping before the short attention span crowd forgets about the show entirely might help as well. Based on all the work going into what’s here, it’ll be really interesting to see how this one turns out. Stick around for more info and images as they become available

Gallery: Two Worlds II

Posted on October 19, 2009 by geelw

One of the more under-appreciated RPGs in the US this console generation had to be Reality Pump’s Two Worlds, an open world action-based RPG experience with plenty to see and do (and some rather interesting monster designs). While the game wasn’t perfect and had an ending that cut off any further exploration once the main quest was completed, there were more than enough enjoyable elements to keep me hooked in for hours at a stretch. Let’s just say I spent a huge amount of time crafting up the perfect weapons and armor set. That and learning all those great summon spells so by the endgame, my character was pretty unstoppable by the endgame…

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Astro Boy: The Video Game Wallpapers

Posted on October 14, 2009 by geelw

Here you go: SIX nice images for your PC using game and movie assets – thanks, D3! These images should fit 1280 x1024 monitors. The game ships on October 20th for the PS2, DS/DSi and Wii. As huge Osamu Tezuka (and of course, Astro Boy) fans, I’m hoping to nab a few reviewables so we can see how it’s turned out.

In Astro Boy: The Video Game, players become the iconic hero, Astro Boy, and take to the streets and skies on an epic adventure to save Metro City from the clutches of the evil President Stone and his robot army. Utilizing Astro’s entire arsenal of iconic weapons and abilities, players will battle hordes of fearsome foes including some never-before-seen enemies across Metro City and the mysterious Surface.

Hey Kids! Atlus STILL Wants You To Be A Better Badass, Round Two

Posted on October 14, 2009 by geelw

This week’s Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble entry is even funnier than last week’s. Shabai vs. Shibui, indeed… hilarious. November 11, 2009 is the date to remember, folks… pre-order it or else some punk dressed up all in black with a big slicked back pompadour is going to be kicking your butt down the street, into the nearest game store and all the way back up to your house. Meaning you’ll be too sore to play the game sitting down…

Anyway, here are a bunch of new screens to pore over below the jump, also funnier than last week’s batch:

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Duck & Cover, Daffy! Mastiff’s Great American Bird Hunt Is Coming in November

Posted on October 13, 2009 by geelw

Now, I could make the requisite “Dick Cheney is an unlockable character” joke, but it’s too damn obvious of a poke at the ex-VP (besides, he might show up on my doorstep). Anyway, if you’re not a PETA member of someone falling off the couch while headed to the phone to call your congressman to complain about whatever, this one actually looks as if it’ll be a lot of fun. Yeah, it’s looking like a more modern version of Nintendo’s classic Duck Hunt, but hey… if it worked back then, it’ll work just as well now.

Of course, this is from a lifelong Noo Yawkuh who’s barely set foot in the woods except for a few years of summer camp and a few trips with forest-friendly pals for camping trips too long ago. Anyway, Cover art, press release, game trailer (that music is a hoot!) and some nice screens below the jump.

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Update: Splatterhouse

Posted on October 13, 2009 by geelw

Just when you thought it was dead and gone (or at least delayed indefinitely to the ninth circle of development hell), Namco Bandai unearths a few new screens and info from Splatterhouse, set for a Q3 2010 release on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Given all the stormy stuff that took place during the game’s bumpy early development process, it’s excellent to see the project still going strong and looking quite nice (well, “nice” in a gory, horror game sort of way).

Now that this is an in-house development deal, my one suggestion to Namco Bandai (and I’m sure they’ve gotten this request already) is to PLEASE add some awesome bonuses to this one for us fans of the original games! It would be really fantastic to see either the Arcade version of the original or perhaps the Genesis versions of Splatterhouse 2 and Splatterhouse 3 as bonuses. Heck, how about the very fun Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti, a hilarious Famicom game with great SD graphics and a pretty funny storyline? If that’s not possible, at LEAST give us a gallery of classic and new images that’s high-res with a zoom feature so folks can check out the art and not have to squint their eyeballs out of their sockets…

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