Excellent – not only is Shin’en beefing up Nano Assault for a 3DS digital release, we’re also getting Nano Assault Neo on the Wii, which packs in even more all-new content and nicely uses the GamePad for two-player action. My only issue with both games are they’re going to bi digital downloads only. Personally, I’d pay for a retail release that features full-on Wii U remakes of Nanostray, Nanostray 2 and both Iridion 3D games. I bet fans of the developer’s shmups would agree, especially if they also got a discount voucher for Nano Assault EX included in the deal. Anyway, color me thrilled to see another Wii U game on the way…
Milestone has been around for a while making racing games, but despite all their work on assorted road, rally and motorcycle games, has never really made a name for themselves outside Europe. This will hopefully change up a bit as WRC 3 slides into stores there and a few folks import the game here and sing its praises. Hell, we AL:L could use a decent rally game that’s not an advertisement for a specific car, driver and race style that’s not rallying. I’m still hoping Evolution Studios gets back in the game one of these days or perhaps some of the folks at Warthog who brought the annoyingly tough to master (but eventually rewarding) Richard Burns Rally to consoles and PC’s a while back. Granted, Burns is no longer with us, so it would need to be called something else (or the term “ghost car” would have a new meaning -O o -).
Hmmm… well, it IS PS3 and Vita bound and those versions shouldn’t be region-locked, so… it looks as if I’ll be importing this at some point to get my fix of tiny cars flying around slippery corners with nothing but the wind (and some good driving) keeping them from sailing off the edge. Yeah, yeah, Milestone wants to get this on Steam Greenlight as a worldwide release, but I don’t have a super fast PC to play this on should it get accepted. Besides, I like a bit of distance from the screen when I play a game like this… and a retail package I can put a disc in when I’m not glued to the TV.
2K Games and Firaxis are about to make a ton of gamers happy campers indeed with this upcoming reboot of the turn-based strategy classic and this should be one of those games that becomes highly regarded among new and old genre fans. Sadly and not so amusingly enough, rumors have it that the highly stylized FPS origin story (which has vanished off the radar for far too long), has been whined and focus-grouped dined into a watered down (and probably DLC-only) version of the turn-based game above with squad-based third-person gameplay. Talk about a developer not being able to do the game they set out to do in the first place. Great. Score another “victory!” for those who want to piss on creativity because they think one genre is “inferior” to another or ONLY caters to ONE type of player. System Shock, Thief, Half-Life, Arx Fatalis, Anvil of Dawn and other excellent POV titles are more that solid examples of smart “shooters” that were classics of their times is all I’ll say…
Anyway, I hope we at LEAST get something like a demo pr something PLAYABLE made available of the old version of this game before it got sent to development hell. Granted, it probably would have been dead at launch only to be rediscovered as one more “Hey! This game isn’t bad at all!” bargain bin special, but I guess 2K doesn’t want to deal with that factor (even after so much has already been spent on development). Feh. Sometimes, fans aren’t the smartest sticks in the shed because they hate things that may actually work well in a certain context they can’t wrap their heads around until they actually PLAY it. Same old hamburger and fries again? Sure!
With about a week to go before launch, I really haven’t seen much about this one. That may or may not be a good thing depending on who you ask. While it’s going to be buried in the juggernaut of more hyped launches this month and next, i think that if the game is good, it will no doubt find an audience over time (the way many of these RPGs do with fans who like seeing fantasy games that try to do things differently). If, on the other hand, the game is being skipped into stores like an assassin’s blade through the ribs of some unsuspecting target because it’s rough around the edges, then it’s a quick trip to the bargain bin or worse, a slow death as yet another fine game that took a lot of people a long time to do goes under appreciated. Hopefully, Focus Home Interactive’s PR folk here will be willing to let some of us interested types see what’s what and let you know, but I have no qualms about shelling out full price for a game that’s interesting enough to keep my interest for longer than some FPS or overblown titles with bigger budgets and less to do at the end of the day…
Speaking of Silent Hill, I’d actually forgotten this new Vita game was coming out on October 16 oops), so now I’ll need to see how veteran developer WayForward Technologies did with this decidedly different take on the horror anthology franchise. My guess is given that Silent Hill is supposed to be made up of all types of stories, we’d see how things go when you end up with a bunch of people who aren’t all running from their fears or dealing with the usual personal issues made into freakish flesh. I trust WayForward enough to know they can make some mighty fine game experiences, so I’m not hating on them at all for changing things up here. Of course, if the game is “bad” I’ll pick on them where it counts with some constructive criticism. That’s how I roll, folks…
I actually love the new 3DS XL because I’m old as the hills and need something I can actually see, so yep, I’ll be getting one of these in a bit. My problem is the same as the one many who still play Game Boy Advance or other older Game Boy games have had since the DSi XL launched a while back. We STILL need to keep an older model small screen DS around (or have a dedicated GBA SP) when we want to play something that has yet to go up in the eShop. Yes, I still have my Game Boy Player attached to my GameCube, but you certainly can’t take that setup on the train.
Granted, the chances of seeing some of the more obscure GBA games I have here pop up as legal downloads are slim to none (and I refuse to be a pirate, arrr!), but hey, I’m in the minority at the end of the day. Compared to the masses who don’t give a hoot because they’re not interested in game history, treat it as easily disposable and move onto new things at a rapid pace, I’m an absolute dinosaur to Nintendo. Hell, I still say some of us old farts NEED to keep all types of gaming alive for as long as we can…
Second part in the “making of” series collaboration between Crystal Dynamics games journalist Geoff Keighley and hosted Zachary Levi (one of those actor/gamer types you probably know from some TV show or movie. I don’t know him, as I’m too busy playing too many games to pay attention to Hollywood types). This time out, it’s a look at the game’s story and what went into creating it. The “survival adventure” element and new take on the character will be the draw for me (OK, the amazing visuals are nothing to sneeze at) and I hope that this “reboot” gets the appropriate praise for what it does right and the proper amount of criticism for anything it misses. Of course, if poor Lara misses those jumps too many times, it’s back down to the depths of the bargain bin, right? Then again, I’m betting this will be light years better than some of the lesser games in the series older days. Angel of Darkness, anyone?
One of the best blends of JRPG, humor and genuine challenge for the unwary player, Half Minute Hero finally hits the PC in a nicely buffed up version that rounds up all the content from the PSP while adding a really interesting cartoon art style (check out the YouTube video channel here) and of course, retaining the same lightning-paced gameplay from the portable games intact. BUY this game, I say, as it will make you laugh at the familiar tropes it pokes fun at while you’re getting creamed by some pretty pesky enemies. You need to pay attention, plan ahead and fight for time here as you try to make that 30 seconds count. Don’t play this on a laptop while traveling, however – people will think you’ve gone nuts when you start yelling at your screen and yep, the men in the white coats will follow soon afterward.
Now, I could make a couple of REALLY corny piracy jokes about the US version of this hit game NOT being available on a disc, meaning the poor digital pirates can’t even play the game they don’t want to buy or something like that, but I won’t. Anyway, One Piece Pirate Warriors, the latest anime franchise to go the Dynasty Warriors route id out NOW and quite spectacular stuff. As for why it’s not a CD in a case, well… among other things, mega-success in Japan doesn’t always translate to that same number of sales here and yes, anime games like One Piece are indeed a niche inside of a niche (or much smaller than than even the most rabid fan would want to know), so here we are. Granted, it’s another sad case of some people being able to play this instant classic, and some that can’t even if they wanted to.
It’s the current economy more than it is Namco Bandai wanting to piss you off, folks. That said, the move to digital is becoming a bigger problem as more games head that way without letting fans in on why, so I hope the powers that be in the industry in general finally quit it with the smoke and mirrors and “everyone is downloading!” crap and get into letting people with money but crappy online connections have the means to BUY their games instead of complaining that they can’t do so.
OK, another case of me being late to the party, but even so, here’s another RPG you’ll probably fall head over heels for. Knights of the Chalice comes highly recommended if you’re a fan of old-school top-down RPG bliss, anything Dungeons & Dragons related and well crafted, severely challenging games in general. While it’s not a free game, you can download the wickedly cool (and hard) demo and decide if it’s worth the £14.95 (approximately $24.15 US) – I’d say it is and then some, but I’m still playing the demo! Actually, I’ll probably pick this up once I whittle down the pile of games I have to review. I don’t want to buy it now and be tempted to start up another game that’s going to eat up what’s left of my free time…
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 