Lost Planet 3 Updated Hands-On: Payton’s Place Is On Channel E.D.N. III…

LostPlanet3_BrokenGlassI’ve been a supporter of Lost Planet 3 ever since I played the demo last year simply because I completely “got” the direction Capcom and developer Spark Unlimited set for the upcoming prequel. While that first demo was put together to show off certain areas in the game and how well-designed and acted the cinematic sequences were, the version I played last week here in NYC was the first area of the game that showed off a solid story and gameplay progression that made the 45 or so minutes fly by too quickly.

Those folks unfairly criticizing the game for nonsense reasons will hopefully not affect the sales one bit should they actually get their hands around a controller and have their minds changed. Of course, you can’t care what some less informed people say on the internet, right? That said, my more informed powers of “I played it and see where it’s going” trump anyone with a bile covered keyboard who still thinks this is a “sequel” and not going to cover elements in the other LP games…

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DuckTales Hands-On: Woo-oo! WayForward Remakes (and Creates) A Classic…

Ever since it was revealed a few months back, I knew WayForward Technologies and Capcom had their DuckTales reboot all buttoned up like Scrooge McDuck’s custom-made spats, but after getting some hands-on time with the first level of the game, I can safely report that any adult who played this as a kid on the NES will feel as if they’ve lost a good 20 or so years when they get to play this one. The game brings the classic into 2013 with all-new HD visuals, excellent voice acting from members of the original cartoon’s cast and a fantastically redone score that takes those familiar tunes you remember and makes them even more memorable.

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Young Justice Legacy Hands-On: Teens & Titans Collide In Little Orbit’s Upcoming ARPG…

GA_IceRiver_001One of the nicer surprises at the Namco Bandai Global Gamers Day event was a playable build of Young Justice Legacy, set for a fall release on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, 3DS and PC (what, no Vita version?!). Fans of the show should be pleased to know that developer Freedom Factory is cooking up a fast-paced action/RPG in the vein of the X-Men Legends and Marvel Ultimate Alliance games featuring stylized 3D visuals and a nicely-sized roster of characters from the series. The game has a few months more cooking to do on the developer’s stove, but it’s definitely going to one of those the more dedicated fans of the currently canceled cartoon should dive right into as soon as it hits stores.

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Turbo Super Stunt Squad Hands-On: Zippy Trick Snails Remind Me A Bit Of The Old Days…

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Dreamworks Animation is having quite a busy year with a few big releases zipping into theaters this year, and D3Publisher is right in the same zone, getting out a few cool family-friendly titles tying into these assorted properties. Turbo (set for a July 19 release) is the next film zooming your way and D3P’s Turbo: Super Stunt Squad will also pop up as a multiplatform release (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii/Wii U, Nintendo DS/3DS) a few days before on July 16, 2013 (what, no Vita version?). I had the chance to take the Xbox 360 and 3DS versions for a spin earlier this month and came away with a smile, as the games are coming along as fine and well-made tie-ins to the upcoming film.

While you’re not going to be getting any hyperbole-packed “Game of the Year!” reviews from a licensed game like this (and you shouldn’t expect any, mind you), developer Monkey Bar Games is whipping up a fun, cool homage of sorts to the classic Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater with this stunt-filled racer/exploration game that’s sure to put smiles on a few faces…

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Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Hands-On: Starbreeze Takes A Brave New Direction

brothers_cave01Starbreeze Studios and Josef Fares’ upcoming collaboration: Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (set for a spring launch on PC, PSN and Xbox Live Arcade) is an important game for a few reasons, but it’s also a game you actually need to play in order to understand how and why it works so well. The acclaimed Swedish director and well-seasoned developer have crafted a gorgeous-looking fantasy adventure tale with an innovative control scheme, smart camera system and no GUI to take away from the immersion, all of which make the game unique but accessible once you wrap your head around controlling two characters with a single controller.

There have been many games where players were either followed around by “smart” AI characters or controlled multiple characters on the same screen, but Brothers’ unique control scheme gently demands that both halves of your brain operate in unison right from the start, as many of the puzzles you’ll face require timing and precision in order to progress. Just remember that your left side of the controller is Big Brother and the right side Little Brother and it all clicks into place…
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Gallery: Tales of Xillia

Milla_illustrationJude_illustrationWatching and listening to series Producer Hideo Baba talk about his beloved Tales franchise will make anyone want to pick up a controller and play whatever lands on these shores. The latest in the long-running franchise (which started on the Super Famicom back in 1995), Tales of Xillia breaks new ground for the series by combining the distinctly different art styles of the series two key character designers (Kosuke Fujishima and Mutsumi Inomata), blending them flawlessly in a larger and prettier overall game. Toss in “Empress of Pop” Ayumi Hamasaki singing the theme sone, a refined battle system and the usual Tales quality bumped up to a nice PS3 shine and you get a game fans should be more than pleased to play…

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Gallery: Dark Souls II

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DarkSoulsII (1)As noted last week, Dark Souls II is looking quite spectacular for a work in progress. FromSoftware is toiling away like mad to give fans what they want and MORE, with the focus being on getting to the good stuff (combat and survival) faster, eliminating some of the overly tedious backtracking and beefing up the visuals, enemies and overall level of challenge to new extremes. Casual players looking for a simple hack & slash and those not wanting the thrill of barely making it past some brutal death traps, enemies and bosses will want to tread lightly here (or tread not at all), but everyone else looking for the King of Pain and willing to roll the dice here will be in gaming heaven (and more often than not, hell) when this one ships out for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 once it’s all done…

For anyone who plays, however… expect to feel DESPAIR (and frequently, if you rush around like Kratos on a caffeine jag)…

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Gallery: Armored Core Verdict Day

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12.battle areaFirst things first: Armored Core Verdict Day is NOT an “expansion pack” at all. You don’t NEED a copy of Armored Core V in order to play, there have been a ton of improvements and additions in key areas and in fact, this might be a more enjoyable experience for players diving in for the first time as well as returning veterans. FromSoftware is polishing up this online experience to a beautiful shine and if the recent demo on display at Namco Bandai’s Global Gamers Day was any indication, this should be one of those mech games that keeps players coming back for more once they get to take it for a spin… Continue reading

Oboro Muramasa Gameplay: Your Japanese Lesson For The Week…

Yes, Oboro Muramasa will be coming stateside this year (as Muramasa Rebirth) thanks to the fine folks at Aksys Games, but you may as well take a long look at the import version of game before it’s in stores or on PSN this June. As a big fan of the Wii version, it’s great to see this game in HD on the Vita’s lovely wide screen and coming to gamers with some new content and a few tweaks. As usual, Vanillaware is proving itself a master developer when it comes to “old-school” 2D gameplay and some incredibly gorgeous visuals that are bound to make this one a hot item when it’s released. Of course, if you can understand Japanese, you’ll get a hell of a lot more out of this gameplay video. However, it’s not necessary at all of you want to see how the game will look and play on a handheld as opposed to on a TV with a controller in your hot little hands…

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GRID 2 Customization: My Fairlady (And Yours, Too!)

The brilliant car customization in Codemasters’ upcoming racer GRID 2 is one more really awesome feature that will get and keep this racer on many play lists for a while. I didn’t get to tinker with it during my two hands-on sessions, but that’s probably a darn good thing. I tend to take ages to trick out a ride and usually end up with something that’s understated yet a monster on the road. Of course, with the amount of online competition this will no doubt have way too many great racers breaking records every few minutes or less, but I’m going to hit solo mode and break in every car I can on as many tracks in the game as possible. May 28, 2013 will be one of those “flu” days for some folks, I’m betting…